Vital climate signs sounding alarms shows latest planetary report

19 Mar 2025 02:54 PM

The imprint of human-induced climate change is evident in the 2024 State of the Global Climate Report from the World Meteorological Organization.

WMO’s flagship report published today shows: 

• Atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide are at the highest levels in the last 800,000 years.
• Globally each of the past ten years were individually the ten warmest years on record.
• Each of the past eight years has set a new record for ocean heat content. 
• The 18 lowest Arctic sea-ice extents on record were all in the past 18 years. 
• The three lowest Antarctic ice extents were in the past three years. 
• The largest three-year loss of glacier mass on record occurred in the past three years. 
• The rate of sea level rise has doubled since satellite measurements began.

Sounding alarms

Professor Stephen Belcher is the Met Office chief scientist. Commenting on today’s report, he said: “The latest planetary health check tells us that earth is profoundly ill. Many of the vital signs are sounding alarms. 

“Globally, earth has experienced the ten warmest years on record over the last ten years. And at both poles we are seeing record loss of sea ice, while the largest three-year loss of glacier mass on record has occurred in the past three years.

“Without serious efforts to heed the warnings, extreme weather events - such as drought, heatwaves and flooding - will continue to worsen.”

2024 was the warmest year in a 175-year series running from 1850.