Alarming warming rates threaten Asia's climate future

Asia, the largest continent in the world with around 60 per cent of the global population, is now warming nearly twice as fast as the global average, according to a report released on Monday.

The sea surface in Asia is also warming at nearly double the global average over the past decades, said the World Meteorological Organization’s “State of the Climate in Asia in 2024” report.

“In the two most recent subperiods (1961-1990 and 1991-2024), Asia, the continent with the largest land mass, extending to the Arctic, has warmed faster than the global land and ocean average,” the report said.

In 2024, the average temperature in Asia was about 1.04 degrees Celsius above the 1991-2020 average, making it either the warmest or second warmest year on record, depending on the dataset.

Many parts of the region saw extreme heat events this year.

Prolonged heatwaves hit East Asia from April to November. Japan, the Republic of Korea and China broke monthly average temperature records repeatedly.

India reported nearly 48,000 cases of heatstroke and 159 deaths due to extreme heat in 2024.

Sea levels rose faster than the global average on both the Pacific and Indian Ocean sides of Asia, increasing risks for low-lying coastal areas, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said.

Reduced winter snowfall and extreme summer heat severely affected glaciers.

In the central Himalayas and Tian Shan, 23 out of 24 glaciers lost mass. This has increased the risk of disasters like glacial lake outburst floods and landslides and poses a long-term threat to water security.

Extreme rainfall caused severe damage and heavy loss of life in several countries, while tropical cyclones brought destruction. Droughts caused major economic and agricultural losses.

“The State of the Climate in Asia report highlights the changes in key climate indicators such as surface temperature, glacier mass and sea level, which will have major repercussions for societies, economies and ecosystems in the region. Extreme weather is already exacting an unacceptably high toll,” said WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo.

International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) Director General Pema Gyamtsho said, "Given Asia's population and economic exposure to the impacts of temperature rise, it is an injustice that the devastating consequences of inaction on climate goals are hitting some of the most vulnerable communities and ecosystems on Earth." He said this is the last decade of action on preserving essential planetary resources, including our glaciers.