March 23 is World Meteorological Day, and the World Meteorological Organization released the "Global Climate Status Report 2025" on that day. The report points out that the Earth's energy imbalance has reached its highest level since observation records began in 1960. Earth's energy imbalance is the difference between the energy of solar radiation entering the Earth system and the energy leaving the Earth's atmosphere.When the energy coming in is greater than the energy going out, it means a lot of heat is accumulating in the Earth system.
Only 1% of the excess energy retained on the earth is stored in the atmosphere, but it has caused significant warming of the global atmosphere. In addition, about 5% of excess energy is stored in continental land masses, while the vast majority of heat is absorbed by the oceans.
Data shows that more than 91% of excess heat is stored in the ocean. The ocean heat content will reach a record high in 2025, and its warming rate has more than doubled from 1960 to 2005, showing an accelerating warming trend.
Over the past two decades, the ocean has absorbed approximately 18 times more energy than humans consume annually. The continued rise in ocean temperatures is bringing a series of serious negative chain reactions to the global marine ecological environment and weather systems.
Another 3% of excess energy has caused global glaciers to heat up and melt. Currently, the ice sheets in Antarctica and Greenland have lost a large amount of mass. This phenomenon directly threatens the ecological security of global coastlines.
Saulo, Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization, pointed out that scientific progress has deepened mankind's understanding of the earth's energy imbalance and also revealed the severe reality the planet currently faces. Today, extreme weather is becoming more frequent around the world.
Human activities are increasingly destroying nature's original balance, and the scientific community warns that the consequences of this interference with the Earth system are so far-reaching that humans may continue to suffer these costs for hundreds or even thousands of years to come.