Antonio Guterres, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, warned on Monday at the 31st United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP31) in Antalya, Turkey, about the world entering a new reality where climate change has become the norm, urging leaders to act "more seriously."
Warning about El Niño and Climate Change
Guterres stated in a declaration: "A major El Niño is hitting a planet that has been warmed by human-induced climate change. We have entered a new era of climate change." He urged leaders to take more serious actions by accelerating the transition away from fossil fuels, providing financing, and supporting vulnerable countries through faster reductions in greenhouse gases.
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World Meteorological Organization Report
This statement was issued as the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) released a report indicating that 2026 will continue a period of exceptional global temperatures, leading to ice melt and rising sea levels. The organization announced that each of the past 12 years has ranked among the 12 warmest on record, and it is expected that this year will also be one of the warmest.
Celeste Saulo, the head of WMO, told reporters in Geneva: "What we are witnessing gives a new meaning to the phrase 'off the charts'" and warned that the current strong El Niño could unleash heat and extreme weather until next year. She also predicted that 2027 is likely to be another record-breaking year.
The global average surface temperature from January to September was about 1.47 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial average, and this year's El Niño, expected to be the strongest since at least 1950, is likely to push this figure even higher by the end of the year. Preliminary data indicates that 2026 will rank among the four warmest years on record.
The World Meteorological Organization also reported that global sea levels have reached their highest point, freshwater resources are declining, and glaciers continue their long-term retreat. In 2025, the annual loss of ice mass was such that it could fill five Olympic-sized swimming pools every second. Saulo described this as "reinforcing our climate" and warned that "heatwaves, tropical storms, and heavy rainfall are intensifying faster than our historical predictions have prepared us for."
The World Meteorological Organization welcomed the significant increase in the number of countries with multi-hazard early warning systems from 55 countries in 2015 to 136 countries last year and urged COP31 to invest more in global observations, data collection, and forecasts for such systems to function effectively. Saulo emphasized: "We cannot fly aimlessly."
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