News

On March 23, 2026, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) delivered a stark warning: Earth’s climate has entered uncharted territory, with heat accumulating at record rates and the consequences expected to last for centuries, if not millennia. 

According to BBC and other global news outlets, the WMO’s annual State of the Global Climate report paints a dire picture of a planet pushed far beyond its natural limits by human-induced greenhouse gas emissions, particularly carbon dioxide.

In a year marked by extreme weather and mounting climate anxiety, the numbers are unequivocal. The 11 hottest years ever recorded have all occurred between 2015 and 2025, with 2025 itself ranking as either the second or third warmest year since records began in 1850. The global average temperature last year was about 1.43°C higher than the pre-industrial baseline, a figure that underscores the relentless upward march of planetary warming.

But temperature alone doesn’t tell the whole story. The WMO’s report, as detailed by Agence France-Presse and other sources, introduces for the first time a comprehensive metric known as the planet’s “energy imbalance.” In a stable climate, the energy Earth receives from the Sun is roughly equal to the energy it radiates back into space. However, the rapid increase in atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide—now at their highest levels in at least 800,000 years—has upset this equilibrium. As a result, Earth is now absorbing more heat than it can emit, a phenomenon with profound implications for every aspect of life on the planet.

“The global climate is in a state of emergency. Planet Earth is being pushed beyond its limits. Every key climate indicator is flashing red,” declared UN Secretary-General António Guterres in a video address responding to the WMO’s findings. He added, “Humanity has just endured the 11 hottest years on record. When history repeats itself 11 times, it is no longer a coincidence. It is a call to act.”

This energy imbalance is not just a theoretical concept—it has tangible, and often devastating, consequences. More than 91% of the excess heat is absorbed by the world’s oceans. That heat content reached a new record high in 2025, with the rate of ocean warming more than doubling in the past two decades compared to the late 20th century. According to the WMO, this unprecedented ocean heating harms marine ecosystems, accelerates the loss of biodiversity, and reduces the ocean’s ability to absorb carbon dioxide. It also fuels more intense tropical and subtropical storms, while exacerbating the ongoing loss of sea ice in polar regions.

The evidence is visible from the poles to the equator. The Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets have both lost considerable mass, and the annual average extent of Arctic sea ice in 2025 was the lowest or second-lowest ever recorded in the satellite era. Sea levels are also rising at an alarming pace: the global mean sea level in 2025 was about 11 centimeters higher than in 1993, when satellite monitoring began. The WMO projects that both ocean warming and sea-level rise will continue for centuries, locking in long-term risks for coastal communities and low-lying nations.

“Human activities are increasingly disrupting the natural equilibrium and we will live with these consequences for hundreds and thousands of years,” explained Prof. Celeste Saulo, secretary-general of the WMO, as quoted by BBC. The agency’s scientific officer, John Kennedy, added that recent rapid analyses show the intensity of recent heatwaves would have been “virtually impossible” without human-caused climate change.

Complicating matters further is the looming threat of El Niño, a naturally occurring climate phenomenon characterized by the warming of surface waters in the central and eastern Pacific Ocean. While the world is currently under the influence of La Niña—a pattern that typically brings cooler global temperatures—forecasts indicate a transition to neutral conditions by mid-2026, with a possible El Niño developing before the end of the year. If that happens, scientists warn, global temperatures could surge even higher in 2027, potentially setting new records and compounding the impacts of human-driven warming. “If we transition to El Niño, we will see an increase in global temperature again, and potentially to new records,” said Dr. John Kennedy of the WMO.

The WMO’s deputy chief, Ko Barrett, did not mince words about the gravity of the situation, describing the outlook as a “dire picture.” She emphasized the hope that clear scientific evidence will spur urgent action, but admitted, “There is no denying that these indicators are not moving in a direction that provides for a lot of hope.”

Meanwhile, the consequences of this warming are already being felt around the globe. Stronger storms, more intense heatwaves, accelerated glacier melt, and record-low sea ice levels are just some of the observable impacts. Rising sea levels threaten major cities and small island nations alike, while the degradation of marine ecosystems jeopardizes food security for millions who depend on the ocean for sustenance and livelihoods. The loss of biodiversity, both on land and in the sea, further undermines the planet’s resilience to future shocks.

In his remarks, Secretary-General Guterres linked the climate crisis to broader issues of global security, noting, “In this age of war, climate stress is also exposing another truth: our addiction to fossil fuels is destabilizing both the climate and global security.” He urged world leaders to accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels and toward renewable energy sources, calling it essential not just for climate stability but for energy and national security as well. “Today’s report should come with a warning label: climate chaos is accelerating and delay is deadly,” Guterres said, underscoring the urgency of immediate and coordinated global action.

Despite the bleak outlook, the WMO and the United Nations continue to stress the importance of evidence-based policymaking and international cooperation. The hope is that the mounting scientific consensus and the undeniable reality of climate impacts will galvanize governments, industries, and individuals to take the bold steps needed to avert even greater catastrophe. As Prof. Saulo put it, “Scientific advances have improved our understanding of the energy imbalance and its implications for the climate,” but knowledge alone is not enough—action must follow.

With the world at a crossroads, the message from the WMO and the UN is clear: the time for complacency has passed. Every fraction of a degree matters, and every delay in action increases the risks for current and future generations. The planet is flashing red, and the window for meaningful change is rapidly closing.

Source:adaderana.lk

The pilot and co-pilot were killed and dozens of people injured at New York’s La Guardia Airport late Sunday night when an arriving Air Canada Express plane and firetruck collided on a runway, officials said.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs the airport, said in a statement that the pilot and co-pilot were dead and 41 people were taken to hospitals — 39 from the aircraft and two PA Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting officers from the firetruck.

Port Authority Executive Director Kathryn Garcia told reporters Monday morning that initial indications were 32 people had been released but there were also serious injuries.

Garcia said Air Canada Flight 8646, operated by Jazz Aviation, had 70 people on board. It wasn’t clear whether that included crew members.

CBS News Investigative Unit senior producer Pat Milton citeD a source as saying it appearED the collision was an accident and there was no foul play or terrorism suspected.

LaGuardia was closed. The Federal Aviation Administration issued a ground stop for the airport until at least 2 p.m. 

Jazz Aviation said in a statement that the truck was “responding to a separate incident” when the collision occurred.

CBS News senior transportation and national correspondent Kris Van Cleave reported that pilots of United Airlines Flight 2384 aborted its takeoff when an anti-ice warning light come on. They reported an odor in the cabin and requested assistance from firefighters. The pilots said flight attendants were feeling ill and declared an emergency when no gates were immediately available.

Van Cleave said the Air Canada plane, which was coming in from Montreal, had landed and was slowing down, going 24 mph, when it collided with the PA vehicle. He said the collision probably occurred as passengers were getting off at the back of the airliner.

The Air Canada plane suffered significant damage, Van Cleave said, adding that it was a CRJ 900 — a smaller plane.

Air traffic controllers apparently tried to stop the firefighting vehicle, recordings Van Cleave listened to revealed.

The big question, Van Cleave says, is what the communication breakdown was that allowed the vehicle to be on the runway as the plane was landing.

Significant delays and cancellations are expected as the morning goes on, Van Cleave pointed out.

The National Transportation Safety Board said it was “launching a go team” to investigate the crash. Garcia said the first team members have arrived at the airport.

Source:adaderana.lk

The Department of Meteorology has forecast showers and thundershowers in several parts of Sri Lanka after 2.00 p.m. today (24).

Rainfall is expected in the Western Province, Southern Province, Uva Province and Sabaragamuwa Province, as well as in the Kandy District and Nuwara Eliya District.

The department also warned that fairly heavy showers exceeding 50 mm could occur in parts of the Ratnapura District, Galle District and Matara District.

Meanwhile, most other areas of the island are expected to experience mainly dry conditions.

Misty weather is likely during the early morning hours in parts of the Western Province, Central Province, Sabaragamuwa Province and Uva Province, along with the Galle District, Matara District and Kurunegala District.

The public has been advised to take necessary precautions to reduce the risk of damage from sudden strong winds and lightning that may accompany thundershowers.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Monday there had been no assessment that mainland Britain was being targeted by Iran.

“We carry out assessments all the time in order to keep ⁠us safe, and there’s no assessment that we’re being targeted in that way,” Starmer told reporters.

He was asked if Britain could be targeted by Iran after reports at the weekend that Iran ⁠had fired two ballistic missiles at the U.S.-U.K. military base Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean.

Starmer also ⁠said that any attempt to reopen the Strait of Hormuz needed careful ⁠consideration and a viable plan, and that his number ⁠one priority was to protect British interests and de-escalate.

Source:adaderana.lk

A Colombian military transport plane that crashed on takeoff in the south of the country was carrying more than 100 personnel, according to Vice President Francia Márquez Mina.

The accident involved a C-130 Hercules aircraft and occurred in Puerto Leguízamo, a town in Putumayo department, bordering Peru. The cause of the crash has not yet been determined, Defense Minister Pedro Sánchez said.

The plane was carrying 114 passengers and 11 crew members, according to General Carlos Silva, commander of the Colombian Aerospace Force.

At least 48 people were rescued, he added.

A video geolocated by CNN shows the military plane taking off from Caucaya Airport and flying over a rural area moments before it went down. The footage indicates the crash happened less than two miles from the airport.

Images from the scene of the crash showed thick black smoke and flames rising from the wreckage.

Nicolas Ordoñez, an indigenous ranger involved in the search and rescue operations in Leguízamo, told CNN that several survivors had been taken to a local hospital.

Sánchez has sent condolences to the families of those affected.

President Gustavo Petro said the crash “should never have happened.” He lamented the lack of modernization of the armed forces, which he attributed to “bureaucratic difficulties.”

Source:adaderana.lk

A top official from the United Arab Emirates has criticized “major” Arab and Islamic nations for failing to support Gulf Arab countries in “times of hardship.”

“Where are the Arab and Islamic working institutions, chief among them the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Corporation whilst our people and nations are facing this treacherous Iranian aggression?” Anwar Gargash, adviser to the UAE president, posted on X. “Where are the ‘major’ Arab and regional countries?”

He said that “in this absence and incapacity, it is unacceptable later to speak of the decline of the Arab and Islamic role or to criticize the American and Western presence.”

“The Arab Gulf states were a support and partner to all in times of prosperity … so where are you today in times of hardship?” he added.

Gargash earlier wrote that Iran’s attacks would “solidify our security partnerships with Washington,” adding that “this is the cost of Iran’s misguided calculations.”

Source: adaderana.lk

The US Embassy in Muscat has lifted a stay in place order for citizens in Oman’s capital.

The advice to take shelter had been issued at 20:42 local time (16:42 GMT).

The ministry says that while this advice has been lifted for the capital, ‘‘shelter in place guidance remains for the rest of Oman due to ongoing activity’‘.

The embassy tells citizens: ‘‘To the extent possible, remain in your residence, hotel, or another structure, and stay away from windows.’‘

Source: adaderana.lk

Iran’s high-level security body Defence Council has said in a statement that the ‘‘only way for non-hostile countries’‘ to pass through Strait of Hormuz is ‘‘coordination with Iran’‘.

The Council has also said in the statement published by Iranian outlets that ‘‘any attempt by the enemy to attack Iranian coasts or islands’‘ will lead to ‘‘all access routes’‘ in the Gulf [they have said Persian] and coastal areas getting ‘‘mined with various types of naval mines, including drifting mines deployable from the shore’‘.

In the case of such an attack, in ‘‘addition to the Strait of Hormuz, the whole (Persian) Gulf would in practice be blocked, with ‘‘responsibility belonging to the aggressor’‘, the statement adds.

Source:adaderana.lk

As U.S. President Donald Trump’s deadline on opening the Strait of Hormuz approaches, Iran on Monday threatened to attack Mideast electrical plants powering American military bases.

The statement from Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard marks the latest attempt by Tehran to try and explain its attacks on the Gulf Arab countries.

Iranian state television read out the statement on air Monday morning.

“What we have done is to announce our decision that if the power plants are attacked, Iran will retaliate by targeting the power plants of the occupying regime and the power plants of regional countries that supply electricity to US bases, as well as the economic, industrial and energy infrastructures in which Americans have shares,” the statement said, referring to Israel as an “occupying regime.”

It added: “Do not doubt that we will do this.”

Trump warned early Sunday morning that the U.S. will target Iranian power plants in 48 hours if the strait remains effectively closed by Iranian fire on shipping.

Source:adaderana.lk

An Air Canada Express regional jet collided with a ground vehicle upon landing at New York’s LaGuardia airport on Monday evening, according to flight tracking website Flightradar24, in an incident that closed the airport.

The CRJ-900 plane, which was coming from Montreal, struck the vehicle at a speed of about 24 miles per hour (39 kph), Flightradar24 said. The jet was ⁠operated by Jazz Aviation, Air Canada’s regional partner.

 An Air Canada Express regional jet collided with a ground vehicle upon landing at New York’s LaGuardia airport on Monday evening, according to flight tracking website Flightradar24, in an incident that closed the airport.

The CRJ-900 plane, which was coming from Montreal, struck the vehicle at a speed of about 24 miles per hour (39 kph), Flightradar24 said. The jet was ⁠operated by Jazz Aviation, Air Canada’s regional partner.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a ground stop for all planes at the airport until 0530 GMT, according to a notice from the regulator.

The FAA notice showed that the reason for the halt at the airport was an emergency and there was a high probability of an extension, without specifying any details.

LaGuardia’s website showed arriving planes ⁠had been diverted to other airports or returned to their point of origin.

Air Canada and the FAA did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Source: adaderana.lk

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Nishikant Dubey said on Monday that the Congress and DMK surrendered India’s maritime rights by giving Katchatheevu island to Sri Lanka.

Speaking to reporters outside Indian Parliament, he also celebrated Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s record tenure days in public office as a Chief Minister and Prime Minister, describing it as a historic milestone for Indian democracy.

‘I have provided the documents; I have provided a copy of the agreement. The agreement copy states that the entire maritime area where India used to have rights. You might know about Katchatheevu. I will even give you the date that the agreement was made on June 26th, so June 26th is the date,’ he said.

Adding to this, he said, ‘In this, they joined hands with the then Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Karunanidhi ji, and made this agreement. We have the minutes of both agreements involving Karunanidhi ji from the Government of India meetings; I will provide those to whoever asks for them as well.’

He blamed governments from Jawaharlal Nehru to Manmohan Singh for harming fishermen’s interests and escalating tensions with Sri Lanka
‘Understand what happened after this. After the ‘76 agreement and the ‘74 Katchatheevu agreement, the situation that developed was that lakhs of fishermen would consistently go into our seas and Sri Lanka would capture and detain them.

And even that wasn’t enough; when Vajpayee ji tried to do something about this in 2002-2003, a joint statement was issued with Vajpayee ji, which was overturned again in 2008. Today, I have mentioned the 2008 joint statement as well as the agreement of March 23, 1976. Can anyone do anything more disgraceful? Our fishermen were reduced to beggars. In Tamil Nadu, the politics that DMK is playing with the Congress, they will have to answer to the public in the upcoming elections, said Dubey.

‘This will cause problems for fishermen in the future, and fishermen will go to jail because the entire sea area where India has control at the international border, that control will go to Sri Lanka. Setalvad wrote those Attorney General’s views in 1961-62. That’s what I said, the process that started with Nehru ji was furthered by Indira ji and completed by Manmohan Singh ji and Sonia ji in 2008,’ Dubey stated.

He also praised Indian PM Narendra Modi, calling his long tenure and rise from humble beginnings a matter of national pride and a symbol of growing public trust.

Source:adaderana.lk

The US State Department has issued an updated caution to Americans across the world due to the ongoing tensions in the Middle East.

Writing on X, the department calls on Americans “worldwide, and especially in the Middle East, to exercise increased caution”.

“Periodic airspace closures may cause travel disruptions. US diplomatic facilities, including outside the Middle East, have been targeted,” it says.

“Groups supportive of Iran may target other US interests overseas or locations associated with the United States and/or Americans throughout the world.”

Source:adaderana.lk