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ANTALYA: The world is entering a new reality where climate extremes are the norm, the United Nations chief Antonio Guterres warned Monday, urging leaders at the COP31 climate conference in Turkiye to \u201cget serious.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA supersized El Nino is colliding with a planet already superheated by manmade climate change,\u201d the UN secretary general said in a statement.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have entered a new age of climate extremes.\u201d<\/p>\n
As leaders gathered in Antalya for the UN climate summit, Guterres called on them to \u201cget serious by cutting emissions faster, accelerating a just transition from fossil fuels and delivering the finance and protection vulnerable countries need.\u201d<\/p>\n
His statement came as the UN\u2019s World Meteorological Organization released a report indicating that 2026 has continued a streak of exceptional global temperatures, melting ice and rising sea levels.<\/p>\n
Each of the past 12 years have been among the hottest 12 years on record, the agency said, with this year expected to be among the hottest ever.<\/p>\n
\u2018Off the charts\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cWhat we are seeing gives new meaning to the phrase off the charts,\u201d WMO chief Celeste Saulo told reporters in Geneva, cautioning that the current exceptionally strong El Nino could unleash more heat and extreme weather well into next year.<\/p>\n \u201cWe should prepare for another record-breaking year in 2027.\u201d<\/p>\n The global average surface temperature between January and September this year was around 1.47 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial average, the WMO said.<\/p>\n And this year\u2019s El Nino \u2014 expected to be the strongest since 1950 at least \u2014 could push the figure higher by the end of the year.<\/p>\n Preliminary data shows 2026 figuring among the four hottest years on record, WMO climate information chief John Kenned told reporters, adding though that \u201cwith the El Nina developing, we might see when the final numbers come in that we\u2019re close to the top.\u201d<\/p>\n The naturally occurring weather phenomenon releases heat from the ocean, which this year has been the warmest ever measured, Saulo pointed out.<\/p>\n El Nino is declared when the sea surface temperature is half a degree above average in the tropical Pacific, but from now through January, WMO forecasts \u201cit may be 3.8C above average,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n The WMO also reported that the global sea level was the highest on record, freshwater was dwindling and glaciers were continuing a long-term retreat.<\/p>\n In 2025, the annual mass loss of ice was enough to fill five Olympic pools every second that year, it said.<\/p>\n At the same time, \u201cwe are supercharging our weather and El Nino will be a risk multiplier,\u201d Saulo said, warning that \u201cheatwaves, tropical cyclones, and rainstorms are intensifying faster than our historical baselines prepared us for.\u201d<\/p>\n On a positive note, the WMO hailed a significant increase of countries with essential multi-hazard early warning systems in place, from 55 in 2015 to 136 last year.<\/p>\n It urged the COP31 to ensure more investment in the sustained global observations, data-gathering and forecasting needed for such systems to work.<\/p>\n \u201cWe cannot afford to fly blind,\u201d Saulo said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n