WMO says global temperatures could rise further following an unusually strong El Niño, while UN climate chief Simon Stiell warns that extreme heat, pollution and climate disasters are putting millions of lives at risk.
By Bunmi Yekini
The United Nations has warned that the world is facing an escalating climate-related health crisis, with record-breaking temperatures, rising sea levels and an unusually powerful El Niño threatening to intensify extreme weather conditions into 2027.
World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Secretary-General Celeste Saulo said on Monday that the past 12 years had been the warmest on record, with the four years including 2026 occupying the top positions.
Speaking at a press conference at the COP31 climate summit in Antalya, Türkiye, Saulo said global average temperatures between January and September 2026 were about 1.47 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
She warned that temperatures could rise further before the end of the year because of the developing El Niño, adding that its effects on global temperatures were likely to be more pronounced in 2027.
“The 2026/2027 El Niño is off the charts. It is different from any El Niño that we have monitored,” Saulo said while presenting WMO’s State of the Climate Update 2026.
She said the organisation expected sea surface temperatures in the tropical Pacific, where El Niño develops, to approach four times the threshold used to declare the weather phenomenon between November 2026 and January 2027.
The report also showed that ocean heat had reached a record high for the 10th consecutive year, while sea levels had risen to unprecedented levels, increasing risks for about 900 million people living along low-lying coasts.
United Nations climate chief Simon Stiell said the worsening climate conditions were increasingly threatening human health, with extreme heat, toxic pollution and climate-related disasters placing additional pressure on health systems and infrastructure.
“The climate crisis is now a global health crisis of pandemic proportions,” Stiell said.
He cited heatwaves across southern Asia and record-breaking temperatures during the northern hemisphere summer, which were estimated to have killed about 50,000 people in Europe.
Stiell also warned that rising temperatures posed growing risks to pregnant women, newborns and maternal health, describing the situation as another unfolding health disaster linked to the continued burning of fossil fuels and destruction of forests.
Wellcome Director of Climate and Health Alan Dangour said fossil fuel-related air pollution and extreme heat were estimated to kill more than three million people annually.
He said extreme drought affected nearly 52% of the world’s land for at least one month in 2025, the second-highest level on record, with consequences for farmers, outdoor workers, food security and sanitation.
Dangour said cleaner air, electrification, heat early-warning systems and adaptation measures could help reduce climate-related deaths and healthcare costs.
He added that the Climate & Health Funders Coalition, established at COP30 in Belém, had awarded more than $225 million in its first year to support initiatives addressing extreme heat, air pollution, climate-sensitive infectious diseases and data systems.
The coalition had also attracted an additional $150 million in commitments from new and existing funders, he said.
Saulo said the intensification of heatwaves, tropical cyclones and rainstorms was already carrying significant human and economic costs, with dangerous heat affecting parts of Asia and North America, while floods and droughts were hitting communities in South America, Africa, Asia and the Pacific.
She pointed to progress in early-warning systems, saying the number of countries reporting multi-hazard early-warning systems had increased from 56 in 2015 to 136 in 2025.
However, she warned that such systems depended on sustained investments in weather observations and data collection, particularly as the world prepared for increasingly severe climate conditions.
“Our message to COP31 is that sustained observations from every part of the world are more important than ever. We cannot afford to fly blind,” she said.
Stiell said governments attending COP31 faced a choice between accelerating the transition to clean energy and continuing to expose households, businesses and governments to the financial and health costs of fossil fuels.
He called for greater investment in electrification and efficient clean-energy technologies, saying they offered solutions to both climate pollution and rising household energy costs.
“This year’s COP is about driving forward practical solutions which make a real-world difference,” he said.
The COP31 summit, hosted in Antalya, is expected to advance discussions on climate action, including health, adaptation and the implementation of commitments made at previous climate conferences.
Saulo urged governments to translate scientific warnings into urgent decisions and ensure adequate funding for climate action, particularly for communities most exposed to climate risks.