WMO: Why 'Energy Imbalance' is Worsening the Climate Crisis

The World Meteorological Organization says Earth’s climate is moving further out of balance, with record heat, rising seas and long-lived impacts driven by greenhouse gas emissions.

In its State of the Global Climate 2025 report, the WMO says the planet’s energy system is being pushed into a persistent surplus, trapping more heat across the atmosphere, ocean and ice than can escape back into space.

The years 2015 to 2025 were the hottest 11 on record, underscoring a trend that is now firmly established rather than a temporary spike.

These changes are not short-term anomalies. They are reshaping the climate system in ways that could persist for centuries.

A planet on the back foot

One of the report’s central findings is that Earth’s energy balance has been disrupted.

Under normal conditions, incoming solar radiation is broadly offset by heat leaving the planet, but rising greenhouse gas concentrations have weakened that outflow and created an energy imbalance.

That imbalance is now at its highest level in the 65-year observational record, according to the WMO.

More than 91% of the excess heat is being absorbed by the ocean, with much smaller shares stored in land, ice and the atmosphere.

That makes the climate issue an energy story as much as an environmental one: the planet is retaining heat faster than it can shed it.

“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,” says António Guterres, UN Secretary-General.

“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."

Heat keeps climbing

Global temperatures remained at extreme levels in 2025, with the year sitting around 1.43°C above pre-industrial levels.

The WMO says 2025 was one of the warmest years in a 176-year record and that the past 11 years have all ranked among the hottest on record.

The main drivers remain elevated concentrations of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide, which continue to trap heat in the atmosphere.

CO₂ reached its highest level in at least two million years in 2024, reflecting the ongoing impact of fossil fuel use and land-use change.

That extra heat does not simply raise thermometer readings. It also increases the likelihood of heatwaves, droughts, floods, storms and other disruptive weather extremes.

Oceans absorb the shock

The ocean remains the climate system’s main heat sink, taking in most of the energy trapped by greenhouse gases.

Over the past two decades, it has absorbed the equivalent of about 18 times annual human energy use each year.

That has pushed ocean heat content to record highs, with each of the past nine years setting a new benchmark.

The upside is limited: the ocean delays some warming at the surface, but the cost is greater marine stress, biodiversity loss and coral bleaching.

This stored heat also contributes to sea-level rise through thermal expansion, alongside melting glaciers and ice sheets.

Rising sea levels

Sea levels have continued to rise, with the WMO saying global average levels have climbed by around 11 centimetres since 1993.

That rise is now accelerating, increasing the threat of flooding, erosion and saltwater intrusion for coastal communities.

At the same time, ice loss is worsening. Glaciers posted some of their largest mass losses on record and Arctic and Antarctic sea ice remained at historically low levels.

As reflective ice disappears, more solar energy is absorbed by darker ocean and land surfaces, reinforcing the warming cycle.

The result is a climate system in which energy, water and ice are all being pushed further from historical norms.

“Scientific advances have improved our understanding of the Earth’s energy imbalance and of the reality facing our planet and our climate right now,” says Celeste Saulo, WMO Secretary-General. 

The economic pressure

The WMO says extreme weather is already causing major human and economic disruption, with heatwaves, wildfires, drought, tropical cyclones, storms and flooding affecting millions of people and costing billions.

For energy markets, that translates into higher demand peaks, more volatile supply conditions and added stress on infrastructure.

The report also points to growing impacts on health, food systems and livelihoods, especially in communities already exposed to climate risk.

Rising temperatures are shaping the spread of disease, while heat stress is affecting a large share of the global workforce each year.

In energy terms, the challenge is no longer just decarbonising supply. It is also about building systems resilient enough to cope with a hotter, more volatile world.

Why this matters

The WMO’s message is that climate change is now an energy imbalance problem with cascading consequences for oceans, ice, infrastructure and people.

That makes the case for faster clean energy deployment, stronger grids and better adaptation more urgent, not less.

“Human activities are increasingly disrupting the natural equilibrium," explains Celeste, "and we will live with these consequences for hundreds and thousands of years."