2027 may be hottest year on earth – United Nations warns

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has issued a warning that 2027 could potentially become the hottest year on record, driven by the anticipated intensification of the El Niño phenomenon. This alert coincides with the ongoing United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP31) taking place in Turkey.

WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo emphasized that El Niño serves as a “risk multiplier,” exacerbating extreme weather events such as heatwaves, tropical cyclones, and rainstorms, which are intensifying at a rate faster than historical averages.

A recent WMO report indicates that each of the last 12 years has been the warmest on record, with the last four years marking the highest temperatures ever documented. From January to September 2026, the global average surface temperature was approximately 1.47 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, according to the report. The analysis includes a margin of uncertainty of 0.13 degrees, suggesting that the planet may have breached the critical 1.5-degree threshold for a brief period, a benchmark last exceeded in 2024.

The WMO also highlighted the growing frequency of extreme weather events, which are likened to the impacts of the climate crisis. Preliminary estimates indicate that heatwaves, drought, and wildfires in Europe have resulted in over 30,000 excess deaths this year. Additionally, extreme heat in India in April affected approximately 146.5 million people, while over 1,300 individuals died due to a glacier collapse and subsequent flash flooding in the Himalayas in August.

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