Asia bears biggest climate-change brunt amid extreme weather: WMO
Al Jazeera
UN agency says floods, storms leading cause of casualties and economic losses as impact of heatwaves intensifies.
Asia was the region most affected by climate change, weather and water-related hazards globally last year, the United Nations weather agency has said.
In a report published on Tuesday, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said floods and storms were the main cause of casualties and economic damage in 2023, while the impact of heatwaves became more severe.
It found that Asia has been warming faster than the global average, with temperature rises in 2023 averaging nearly 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above the 1961-90 average.
“Many countries in the region experienced their hottest year on record in 2023, along with a barrage of extreme conditions, from droughts and heatwaves to floods and storms,” WMO chief Celeste Saulo said in a statement.
She added that climate change “exacerbated the frequency and severity of such events”, calling the report’s conclusions “sobering”.
