World entering ‘age of climate extremes’, says UN chief

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has declared that humanity is entering an era characterized by climate extremes, as a powerful El Nino event collides with a planet already significantly warmed by human-induced climate change. Speaking at the COP31 climate conference in Turkey, Guterres urged leaders to take decisive action, emphasizing the need for faster emission cuts, a just transition away from fossil fuels, and the provision of necessary financial and protective measures for vulnerable nations.

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) released a report indicating that 2026 has continued a pattern of exceptional global temperatures, melting ice, and rising sea levels. Each of the past 12 years has ranked among the hottest 12 on record, with this year expected to be among the hottest ever. The global average surface temperature from January to September 2026 was approximately 1.47°C above pre-industrial levels, and the current El Nino could potentially push this figure even higher by year's end.

El Nino, a naturally occurring weather phenomenon, releases heat from the ocean, and in 2026, it has been the warmest ever recorded. The WMO reported that the global sea level reached a new high, freshwater supplies were dwindling, and glaciers continued to retreat. In 2025, the annual loss of ice mass was sufficient to fill five Olympic-sized pools every second.

While the WMO acknowledged a significant increase in the number of countries with multi-hazard early warning systems – growing from 55 in 2015 to 136 in 2026 – Guterres emphasized the urgent need for further investment in sustained global observations, data gathering, and forecasting to ensure these systems remain effective. He cautioned that El Nino will exacerbate the intensification of extreme weather events such as heatwaves, tropical cyclones, and heavy rainfall, which are occurring at an unprecedented rate.