At a Glance
UN Secretary-General António Guterres urged leaders at the COP31 climate conference in Antalya to "get serious" about emissions cuts, fossil fuel transitions, and climate finance.
The WMO reported that 2026 continues a streak of exceptional global temperatures, with global average surface temperatures running about 1.47 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
A historic, highly potent El Niño event is colliding with a superheated planet, raising fears of record-breaking heat and weather extremes extending into 2027.
Global sea levels reached record highs, glacier ice loss continued at staggering rates, and extreme weather phenomena are intensifying faster than historical baselines.
As world leaders gather in Antalya, Turkey, for the COP31 climate summit, United Nations leadership has delivered stark warnings regarding accelerating global climate disruptions and record-breaking thermal anomalies.
WMO Findings and El Niño Impacts
Unprecedented Heat: The World Meteorological Organization indicated that each of the past 12 years ranks among the hottest on record, driven by record ocean warmth and greenhouse gas accumulation.
Intensifying El Niño: WMO chief Celeste Saulo warned that the current El Niño, potentially the strongest since 1950, could see tropical Pacific sea surface temperatures spike up to 3.8 degrees Celsius above average.
Environmental Degradation: Glacial retreat continues at historic rates, freshwater supplies are dwindling, and global sea levels have climbed to new peaks.
Mitigation and Early Warning Systems
Call to Action: Guterres stressed the urgent need to accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels and provide financial protection to vulnerable nations on the front lines of climate change.
Early Warning Expansion: On a positive note, the WMO highlighted an increase in countries deploying multi-hazard early warning systems, rising from 55 in 2015 to 136 last year, while urging greater investment in global observation and forecasting data.
"What we are seeing gives new meaning to the phrase off the charts," WMO chief Celeste Saulo told reporters in Geneva, cautioning that the current exceptionally strong El Nino could unleash more heat and extreme weather well into next year.
"We should prepare for another record-breaking year in 2027."
The global average surface temperature between January and September this year was around 1.47 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial average, the WMO said.
And this year's El Nino -- expected to be the strongest since 1950 at least -- could push the figure higher by the end of the year.
Preliminary data shows 2026 figuring among the four hottest years on record, WMO climate information chief John Kenned told reporters, adding though that "with the El Nina developing, we might see when the final numbers come in that we're close to the top".
The naturally occurring weather phenomenon releases heat from the ocean, which this year has been the warmest ever measured, Saulo pointed out.
El Nino is declared when the sea surface temperature is half a degree above average in the tropical Pacific, but from now through January, WMO forecasts "it may be 3.8C above average", she said.
The WMO also reported that the global sea level was the highest on record, freshwater was dwindling and glaciers were continuing a long-term retreat.
In 2025, the annual mass loss of ice was enough to fill five Olympic pools every second that year, it said.
At the same time, "we are supercharging our weather and El Nino will be a risk multiplier", Saulo said, warning that "heatwaves, tropical cyclones, and rainstorms are intensifying faster than our historical baselines prepared us for".
On a positive note, the WMO hailed a significant increase of countries with essential multi-hazard early warning systems in place, from 55 in 2015 to 136 last year.
It urged the COP31 to ensure more investment in the sustained global observations, data-gathering and forecasting needed for such systems to work.
"We cannot afford to fly blind," Saulo said.
FYI
COP31 represents the annual Conference of the Parties under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), where member states negotiate global commitments to curb greenhouse gas emissions and address climate adaptation.
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