2027 Could Become the Hottest Year Ever Recorded, WMO Warns

(WMO. Photo by Peoples Gazette)
The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) has warned that 2027 could be the hottest year ever recorded.

It says a strong El Niño, a weather pattern that warms the planet, is expected to bring more extreme heat.

The warning came on Monday as world leaders met in Turkey for the UN climate talks, COP31.

WMO Secretary General Celeste Saulo said El Niño makes existing problems worse.

She said heatwaves, tropical storms and heavy rains are getting stronger faster than past patterns would suggest.

A new WMO report shows that each of the last 12 years was the hottest since records began, and the last four were the four hottest.

From January to September 2026, the average temperature across the world was about 1.47 degrees Celsius above pre industrial levels.

Given the margin of error, the world may have passed the 1.5 degree mark that scientists have set as a danger line.

The world last crossed that line in 2024.

The WMO also pointed to the damage done this year.

Heatwaves, drought and wildfires in Europe are estimated to have caused more than 30,000 extra deaths.

Extreme heat in India in April affected about 146.5 million people.

In August, a glacier collapse and flash flood in the Himalayas killed more than 1,300 people.