The 2019 edition of the WMO Statement on the State of Global Climate] treating data for 2018 marks sustained international efforts dedicated to reporting on, analysing and understanding the year-to-year variations and long-term trends of a changing climate.... Key findings of the Statement include the striking consecutive record warming recorded from 2015 through 2018, the continuous upward trend in the atmospheric concentration of the major greenhouse gases, the increasing rate of sea-level rise and the loss of sea ice in both northern and southern polar regions... This current publication includes some of [the linkage between the observed climate variability and change and associated impact on societies]  that have been recorded in recent years, in particular from 2015 to 2018, a period that experienced a strong influence of the El Niño and La Niña phenomena in addition to the long-term climate changes... Global temperature has risen to close to 1 °C above the pre-industrial period. "The time remaining to achieve commitments under the Paris agreement is quickly running out.  This report will inform the United Nations Secretary-General’s 2019 Climate Action Summit." [said P. Taalas, Secretary General of the WMO]... [A. Guterres,UN secretary-General, is] "convening a Climate Action Summit on 23 September. The Summit aims to mobilize the necessary political will for raising ambition as we work to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement" ... "This wide ranging and significant report by the World Meteorological Organization clearly underlines the need for urgent action on climate change and shows the value of authoritative scientific data to inform governments in their decision-making process." [said Maria Fernanda Esponosa Garces, President of the UN General Assembly].