WMO Says Asia Is Warming at Twice the Global Average

Asia is currently warming nearly twice as fast as the global average, causing extreme weather events and wreaking havoc on the region's economies, the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) has said.

- Jayashree Nandi

NEW DELHI:

The 1991-2024 temperature trends for Asia are almost double that of 1961-1990, WMO's data shows.

The WMO's State of the Climate in Asia 2024 report, released on Monday, painted a bleak picture with loss of glaciers, devastating floods, sea level rise and deadly heat waves that are affecting the region.

In 2024, Asia's average temperature was about 1.04 degree C above the 1991-2020 average, ranking as the warmest or second warmest year on record, depending on the dataset, WMO said. "Asia and the Arctic are warming much faster than the global average. This trend is likely to continue. We need to worry about our future generation. They will suffer from large climate variability and extreme events like heat stress, floods and droughts. Countries are still making some passive statements. We need to take action right now," said M Rajeevan, former secretary, ministry of earth sciences, commenting on the report.