<\/p>\n
The WMO\u2019s State of the Climate Update 2026 found that the past 12 years were individually the warmest on record, with the past four years topping the list.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Global surface temperatures between January and September were approximately 1.47\u00b0C above the pre-industrial average.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The organisation expects temperatures to increase further before the end of 2026 as El Ni\u00f1o intensifies. \u201cWe have entered a new age of climate extremes,\u201d UN Secretary-General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cA supersized El Ni\u00f1o is colliding with a planet already superheated by manmade climate change.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In April, approximately 146.5 million people in India were exposed to an extreme heatwave as temperatures reached 47\u00b0C.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Provisional estimates indicated that more than 30 000 excess deaths occurred across Europe during the summer, including approximately 16 000 during the June 22 to June 28 heatwave.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A Himalayan glacier collapse and subsequent flash flooding killed more than 1 300 people in Nepal in August.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The WMO said about 90% of additional heat trapped by greenhouse gases was absorbed by the oceans.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The organisation said 2026 was on course to become the 10th consecutive year of record ocean warmth. \u201cEl Ni\u00f1o doesn\u2019t add new heat to the planet,\u201d WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cIt releases heat from the ocean, which is the warmest ever measured. There is simply more heat available to release.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Global average sea levels reached record highs, while glaciers lost more than 400 gigatonnes of ice in 2025, contributing approximately one millimetre to sea-level rise.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The organisation said the amount of ice lost during 2025 would have filled five Olympic swimming pools every second throughout the year.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Carbon dioxide concentrations were 53% above 1750 levels, while methane increased by 167% and nitrous oxide by 26%.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The WMO has classified the expected health consequences of El Ni\u00f1o as a health emergency for the first time.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The WMO said El Ni\u00f1o was also increasing risks to agriculture, particularly in food-insecure countries dependent on rainfall. \u201cClimate records keep falling. The human costs keep rising. And those least responsible are suffering first and worst,\u201d Guterres said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
–UN\/ChannelAfrica–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":44691,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"news-type":[26],"class_list":["post-50434","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"A record-strength El Ni\u00f1o is expected to intensify heatwaves, floods and tropical cyclones into 2027 as global temperatures continue rising, the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) says.","published_date":"","news_description":"A record-strength El Ni\u00f1o is expected to intensify heatwaves, floods and tropical cyclones into 2027 as global temperatures continue rising, the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) says.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/50434","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/50434\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50436,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/50434\/revisions\/50436"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44691"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=50434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}