Global Climate more out of balance than ever

From BBC Radio 4’s Today news program:

In its annual Climate Report the UN’s World Meteorological Organisation says the last 11 years were the Earth’s warmest on record. It says the global climate is more out of balance than ever before. The UN Secretary General says the planet is being pushed beyond its limits and has reiterated calls for countries to move away from using fossil fuels.

Our Climate Reporter Mark Pointing has more:

This assessment acts as an annual report card for the global climate and the results for 2025 paint a bleak picture. Last year was one of the three warmest years since records began despite a temporary cooling from the La Nina weather pattern. The planet’s frozen regions continue to suffer, with relentless glacier melt and polar sea ice at near record lows.

The heat stored in our oceans also reached a new high. UN scientists couldn’t be clearer that our emissions of heat trapping greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide are driving these changes. CO2 levels are thought to be at their highest for at least 2,000,000 years. The report warns that the pace of today’s warming is likely to have repercussions for hundreds or even thousands of years.

Listen to the recording