What organization warned in March 2026 that the planet's climate is 'more out of balance than at any time in observed history'?

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) delivered a stark warning in March 2026, announcing that the planet's climate is "more out of balance than at any time in observed history." This alarming declaration was a central finding of their "State of the Global Climate 2025" report, released on World Meteorological Day. The WMO, a specialized agency of the United Nations, is dedicated to international cooperation and coordination on the state and behavior of the Earth's atmosphere, its interaction with the oceans, the climate it produces, and the resulting water resources. Their regular assessments provide crucial, authoritative data on global climate trends.

The comprehensive 2025 report underscored a critical planetary phenomenon: Earth's energy imbalance, a new key indicator highlighted by the WMO. This imbalance signifies that the planet is absorbing more energy than it is radiating back into space, primarily due to soaring concentrations of heat-trapping greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide, which reached record levels. This excess energy is largely accumulating in the oceans, which have absorbed approximately 90 percent of the surplus heat. This sustained warming has led to 2015-2025 being the hottest eleven years on record, with 2025 itself ranking as one of the warmest.

The consequences of this accelerating imbalance are far-reaching and severe. The WMO report detailed continued ocean warming, unprecedented rates of ice melt in glaciers and polar regions, and a relentless rise in global sea levels. These changes contribute to an increase in extreme weather events worldwide, from intense heatwaves and droughts to severe rainfall and tropical cyclones, impacting millions of lives and livelihoods. UN Secretary-General António Guterres, commenting on the report, emphasized the gravity of the situation, stating that the world is in a "climate emergency" and that "Earth is being pushed beyond its limits." The WMO's findings serve as a critical call for urgent and ambitious climate action to mitigate these long-term and potentially irreversible changes.