Climate report finds record energy imbalance and ocean heat

The World Meteorological Organization published its annual State of the Global Climate report. The agency said Earth's energy imbalance and ocean heat content reached record levels in 2025. It attributed those records to rising greenhouse gas emissions. The finding was issued as part of the organization's yearly review of the climate system.

The World Meteorological Organization is a United Nations specialized agency that coordinates weather, climate, and water observations among member states. A State of the Global Climate report is its annual summary of how the planet's climate indicators behaved in a given year. Greenhouse gases are gases that trap heat in the atmosphere, and their rise is the main human driver of recent warming. The 2025 records concern two linked measures of that heat.

Earth's energy imbalance is the difference between the energy the planet receives and the energy it sends back to space. When incoming energy exceeds outgoing energy, heat accumulates in the climate system. Ocean heat content measures how much of that extra heat is stored in the sea. The report says both indicators stood at record levels in 2025.

Oceans absorb most of the extra heat retained by a warming planet. A higher ocean heat content means more energy is held in seawater, which can affect sea level, storms, and marine ecosystems over time. An energy imbalance at a record means the planet was still gaining heat rather than returning to balance. The report ties both records to rising greenhouse gas emissions and does not add a separate temperature figure in the account of this finding.

Annual climate assessments draw on observations from weather services, satellites, and ocean measurements. They are used by governments as a shared description of the year just past. The 2025 statement is limited, in this report of the release, to energy imbalance and ocean heat content. It does not list a new global mean temperature, a ranking of the year among the hottest, or a country-by-country breakdown.

The State of the Global Climate report therefore adds two record markers for 2025. Energy imbalance and ocean heat content were both at their highest levels in the organization's accounting. Rising greenhouse gas emissions were identified as the driver. The release keeps the focus on the heat stored by the Earth system rather than on a single weather event.