What does the new ‘State of the Climate in Asia’ report say? | Explained Premium

Asia's climate crisis: WMO's 2023 report highlights extreme events, record-breaking temperatures, and gaps in adaptation and mitigation efforts.

The story so far: Asia has warmed faster than the global average since 1960, the World Meteorological Organisation’s 2023 ‘State of the Climate in Asia’ report has said. According to the report, released on April 23, the Asian continent is struggling with extreme climate events like floods and heatwaves, with record-breaking temperatures and precipitation reported across its countries. It also repeated that the year 2023 was the warmest on record around the world. The State of Climate report also noted an “alarming gap” between climate projections and the ability of Asian countries to adapt to and mitigate climate change and its impacts.

More than 2,000 people were killed and more than nine million were affected by extreme climate events across Asia in 2023. More than 80% of these events were related to storms and floods.

The report also recorded several parts experiencing severe heat waves, leading to multiple fatalities, but acknowledged that heat-related mortality is widely underreported. In India, severe heat waves in April and June killed around 110 people by heat stroke (a condition in which the body temperature increases beyond 40 degrees C).

A prolonged heat wave engulfed large parts of South and South-East Asia in April and May, affecting areas from Bangladesh and eastern India to southern China. Local authorities also reported extraordinary temperatures from Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam. In particular, North China experienced a significant heatwave from June 21 to July 9. The highest temperature recorded at the Beijing Observatory was 41.1 degrees C, the second highest since records began in 1951.

Japan also experienced its hottest summer on record since 1898. Jeddah and Wejh in Saudi Arabia also experienced one heatwave each.

Heat tormented marine ecosystems as well. The most severe to extreme heat waves occurred in a large part of the Arctic Ocean, in the Eastern Arabian Sea, and the Northern Pacific, lasting three to five months.

Similarly, tropical cyclone Mocha, which affected Myanmar and Bangladesh in May 2023, was the strongest cyclone in the Bay of Bengal in the last decade. Shortly after, floods, landslides, and lightning killed around 600 people across India, Pakistan, and Nepal in June and July 2023.