The world’s climate is now more out of balance than at any point in recorded history, with impacts accelerating and consequences locked in for centuries, according to a major new United Nations report.
The World Meteorological Organization’s State of the Global Climate 2025 report showed the past 11 years were the hottest ever recorded, driven by human‑caused greenhouse gas emissions heating the atmosphere, oceans and melting ice at unprecedented speed.
Last year was the second or third hottest year on record globally, with average temperatures about 1.43C above pre‑industrial levels.
UN Secretary‑General António Guterres said the findings amount to a global emergency.
"The State of the Global Climate is in a state of emergency. Planet Earth is being pushed beyond its limits. Every key climate indicator is flashing red," he said.
"Humanity has just endured the eleven hottest years on record. When history repeats itself 11 times, it is no longer a coincidence. It is a call to act."
Victoria University of Wellington climate scientist and glaciologist Dr Lauren Vargo said the findings lined up with decades of warnings.
"As greenhouse gases build up in the atmosphere, the planet is warming," she said.
"While slightly warmer weather might sound pleasant to some of us in New Zealand, the overall costs and risks hugely outweigh any benefits."
More than 90% of the excess heat was being absorbed by the oceans, which continued to warm at an accelerating rate, the report said. That warming combined with melting ice was driving sea level rise, now averaging close to five millimetres per year globally.
Vargo said the most immediate concern was the growing intensity of extreme events.
"What concerns me the most is the increase in frequency and intensity of flooding, heatwaves and wildfires. These events destroy ecosystems and infrastructure, and impact human health and livelihoods, making them costly both financially and to society."
The report confirmed Arctic sea ice fell to its lowest or second lowest level ever recorded last year, while Antarctic sea ice was the third lowest on record. Glaciers worldwide continued to lose mass at alarming rates.
Glacier mass balance — the net gain or loss of ice each year — was one of the report's key indicators. Eight of the 10 largest annual glacier mass loss years had occurred since 2016, using data from around 170 glaciers globally, including two in New Zealand.
Victoria University climate science professor James Renwick said the report underlined the urgency of action.
"The warmest years on record are the ones we're in right now. All aspects of the climate system are warming, and all the cold bits are melting," he said.
"This is all because an increase in atmospheric greenhouse gases is changing the earth’s energy budget, we now have more energy coming in than going out."
Renwick said rising temperatures went hand in hand with more damaging extreme events, with consequences for communities everywhere, including in New Zealand and the Pacific.
"As documented in the WMO report, the global community is collectively eating away at our life support system."
He said the science of climate change had been understood for more than a century, and that the solution remained clear.
"We know what we have to do to stop it. Stop burning fossil fuels. Policymakers have been advised on this for decades, yet emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases keep increasing." he said.
"The costs of inaction are already astronomical. Let's not make them overwhelming."
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