Earth’s energy imbalance hits a record and worsens the global climate crisis

The State of the Global Climate 2025 report warns that the planet is accumulating heat at an unprecedented rate. The oceans absorb most of that energy, while the melting of glaciers and sea-level rise are accelerating.

A new report by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) warns that the oceans are warming at twice the rate they were two decades ago, equivalent to 18 times humanity’s annual energy consumption. The Organization highlighted that the last 11 years were the hottest on record. 

The UN took aim at those who deny climate change. This report answers them with scientific studies and calls for action before it becomes harder to recover some of everything that has changed on the planet. The WMO warns that “the balance has been broken, the Earth is getting hotter and hotter, and the rate at which it is doing so keeps increasing.” 

This is the first time that the annual State of the Global Climate 2025 report has included Earth’s energy imbalance as one of its key indicators, and it states that a new all-time high was reached in 2025. 

In this regard, Celeste Saulo, Secretary-General of the WMO, warned that human activities are increasingly altering the natural balance, which means the planet will live with these consequences for hundreds and thousands of years. 

The WMO report presents a diagnosis of the accelerated deterioration of the Earth system, stating that greenhouse gas concentrations and ocean heat reached unprecedented levels, driving critical changes in the planet’s energy cycle. 

It also documents a historic reduction in glacier mass and a decline in sea ice extent at both poles, which the WMO describes as “worrying.” 

What is the impact on glaciers and oceans? 

Earth’s energy imbalance is the difference between the energy the planet receives from the Sun and the energy it radiates back into space, and it has profound and accelerating impacts on the oceans and glaciers due to the accumulation of surplus energy in the form of heat. 

According to the WMO report, the oceans are the main recipients of the excess energy trapped by greenhouse gases, as they absorb heat on a massive scale, approximately 91% of the surplus energy absorbed. That is why ocean heat content contributed to a new record in 2025. 

The document details that the rate of ocean warming over the past two decades (2005–2025) has been more than double that observed between 1960 and 2005. 

At the same time, the warming of the water causes it to expand thermally, which, together with the melting of land ice, drives sea-level rise. According to estimates, ocean warming contributed 42% of the total sea-level rise between 1993 and 2018. 

As for biological risks, the WMO warns that these changes cause the degradation of marine ecosystems, biodiversity loss, coral bleaching and a reduction in the ocean’s capacity to act as a carbon sink. 

In addition, there is an unprecedented trend of glacier mass loss. The report notes that eight of the ten years with the most negative mass balances since 1950 have occurred since 2016. 

Both Antarctica and Greenland have also lost significant amounts of ice since satellite records began. Studies show that the melting of glaciers and ice sheets is a direct contributor to sea-level rise, accounting for 21% and 23% respectively between 1993 and 2018. 

On top of this, melting exposes darker surfaces such as old ice or land, which reduces the capacity to reflect sunlight, in turn increasing the rate of heat absorption and accelerating melting. 

Experts warn that glacier loss threatens freshwater resources and increases the risk of natural hazards such as floods, landslides and avalanches. 

The WMO insists that the energy imbalance is causing rapid changes in the oceans and glaciers that are irreversible on timescales of centuries to millennia, with direct consequences for food security, ecosystems and the habitability of coastal areas. 

Although the State of the Global Climate 2025 report notes that some changes, such as deep-ocean warming and acidification, are 

irreversible on timescales of centuries to millennia, it also maintains that there are new tools and strategies that offer a path “to mitigate the damage and protect lives. Hope lies in the capacity for science-based adaptation, the implementation of proactive protective measures and global cooperation to respond to the changes that are already happening.”

Guillermo Whpei

President of Fundación para la Democracia