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Don't Look Up Seven Climate Indicators Reach Record Extremes, Report Finds

Source: Oregon State University 3 min Reading Time

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Seven of 16 climate indicators have reached record extremes, according to an international report led by Oregon State University scientists. Despite growth in renewable energy, the authors say record fossil fuel use and rising emissions demand faster action, alongside adaptation and ecosystem protection.

Alaska glacier(Source: Oregon State University)
Alaska glacier
(Source: Oregon State University)

The seventh annual report by an international coalition led by Oregon State University scientists says the Earth’s climate system is quickly becoming unstable and that while signs of important societal changes are emerging, greater and faster action is necessary.

“Rapid destabilization is now a diagnosis rather than a warning for the future,” said one of the report’s co-lead authors, William Ripple, distinguished professor emeritus in the OSU College of Forestry. “The accelerating expansion of renewable energy and advances in battery storage are encouraging, but they are only part of the transformation needed to stabilize the climate system. A more resilient and sustainable future depends heavily on big cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, effective adaptation and ecosystem protection.”

Published today in Bioscience, “The 2026 state of the climate report: challenges and opportunities” notes that of the 16 climate indicators the coalition tracks, seven are at record extremes and multiple others are also trending in the wrong direction, raising concerns about interacting feedbacks and an increasing risk of crossing critical tipping points.

The purpose of the annual report, Ripple said, is to monitor the Earth’s “vital signs” and to encourage global leaders and policymakers to “move away from the business-as-usual approach that’s persisted despite decades of evidence showing that human activities are driving dangerous changes in the climate.”

The atmospheric carbon dioxide level of 428 parts per million is higher now than at any time in the last 2 million years and roughly 50% greater than it was before the dawn of the Industrial Age in the late 1700s. July 2026 was the hottest month on record in the contiguous United States, and global ocean temperatures also reached a record high in July.

The authors stress that cutting emissions remains essential but is no longer sufficient by itself. They call for rapidly deployable adaptation measures such as urban cooling, wetland and mangrove restoration, wildfire preparedness, water conservation, distributed solar energy and more resilient food systems.

“With low-carbon sources now providing about 43% of global electricity, we may be witnessing the emergence of what we call the ‘Age of Electricity,’” said co-lead author Christopher Wolf, a former Oregon State postdoctoral researcher. “That is a reason for hope, but fossil fuel use and emissions are still at record levels, so the transition needs to accelerate dramatically.”

Human activity, mainly fossil fuel consumption, is taxing the planet’s life-support systems by driving profound shifts in the atmosphere, oceans and biosphere, the authors note, to the point that extreme heat, floods, droughts, storms and wildfires are no longer rare events.

“Climate change is increasingly interacting with global biodiversity loss, freshwater stress, food insecurity, pathogens and geopolitical instability, amplifying risks across interconnected human and natural systems,” the authors write.

They add that communities least responsible for historical emissions, particularly in the Global South and small island nations, are already bearing disproportionately severe consequences.

Also from the report:

  • The rate of global warming appears to be accelerating, nearly doubling from about 0.19 degrees Celsius per decade from 1970 to 2010 to about 0.36 degrees per decade since then.
  • A very strong El Niño expected to develop this fall could add substantially to global warming in the coming months, putting 2026 on track to be one of the hottest years on record.
  • Glacier thickness and Greenland ice mass are at all-time lows. In recent decades, the Greenland ice sheet has experienced intense melting episodes, contributing to a sixfold increase in summer meltwater volume.
  • Global tree cover loss due to fires reached 10.8 million hectares in 2025, an area roughly the size of Tennessee and the third-highest level on record. Increasing wildfire activity is both a consequence of climate change and a growing source of greenhouse gas emissions.
  • Fossil fuel consumption increased by 0.9% in 2025, with oil (+1.0%), coal (+0.4%) and gas (+1.3%) all reaching record highs, and annual energy-related carbon dioxide emissions surpassed 41 gigatonnes for the first time.
  • And on a positive note, the rate of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon has declined for four consecutive years, and solar and wind energy consumption has increased by about 18%.

Original Article: The 2026 state of the climate report: challenges and opportunities; BioScience; DOI:10.1093/biosci/biag125

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