The Earth’s climate system is now “out of balance,” according to a new global report — with scientists warning that a key measure of warming has reached its highest level on record.
The latest “State of the Global Climate” report from the World Meteorological Organization finds that the planet is retaining more heat than it releases back into space, a growing gap known as Earth’s energy imbalance. And that imbalance is now accelerating.
In 2025, it reached its highest level since modern measurements began in 1960, the report found, signaling that heat is building up across the planet faster than before. At its core, the concept is simple: the Earth absorbs energy from the sun and reflects some of it back into space. But rising greenhouse gas emissions are disrupting that balance.
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As more heat gets trapped, it doesn’t just stay in one place; it spreads across the climate system. About 91% of that excess heat is absorbed by the oceans, while the rest warms the land and atmosphere or melts ice. Scientists say that buildup acts like a system under pressure.
“The total amount of heat stored on Earth is not just increasing but accelerating,” the report notes, pointing to long-term measurements showing a sharp rise in heat accumulation in recent decades.
The findings come as multiple other climate indicators continue to break records. Greenhouse gas concentrations, including carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide, reached their highest levels in at least 800,000 years in 2024, reducing the planet’s ability to release heat.
At the same time, ocean heat content hit a new record high, glaciers continue to lose mass, with most of the worst years occurring since 2016, Arctic and Antarctic sea ice have declined sharply in recent years, and global sea levels are rising at an accelerating rate.
All of those changes are connected and driven by the same underlying imbalance. That trapped heat is a major driver behind increasingly intense and frequent extreme weather events. As energy builds in the climate system, it fuels stronger storms, more severe heat waves, heavier rainfall and prolonged droughts.
The report highlights 2025 as a year marked by high-impact weather events around the world, from extreme heat to flooding and tropical cyclones. Zooming out, it also reinforces a broader trend: the planet is warming at an unprecedented pace. The past three years are the three warmest on record, and the last decade is the hottest period ever observed in modern history.
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Even small changes in global temperature can translate into major shifts in weather patterns, ecosystems and sea levels, amplifying risks for communities worldwide.
Scientists and advocates say the findings underscore the urgency of reducing greenhouse gas emissions; the World Wildlife Fund released a statement detailing that the world isn’t accelerating climate action fast enough.
“We can bring balance back to the world’s climate, but the window for us to do so before climate impacts spiral out of control is closing fast. The window for climate action is not closing on its own - it is being closed by delay,” Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, WWF Global Climate and Energy Lead, wrote in a statement. “Solutions that work exist, but without implementation at speed and scale by governments, the private sector and others, the world will not rise to the challenge of addressing the climate crisis … To turn promises into real results just requires the will to do so.”
