Asia warming nearly twice global average, hit hard in 2024: WMO

These weather events also caused substantial loss to local communities and economies at large, said the State of Climate in Asia 2024 report, prepared by WMO in collaboration with regional and international meteorological organisations.

“The warming trend between 1991-2024 was almost double of that during the 1961-1990 period,” the report said.

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

According to the report, the surface temperatures were warmer than average for almost the entire region, particularly from western China to Japan, over the Indochina Peninsula, the Middle East and central northern Siberia. Japan, for instance, experienced its warmest year on record, exceeding the previous record set in 2023.

The region was hit by intense land heat waves as well as marine heatwaves. East Asia saw prolonged heatwaves from April to November, and the monthly average temperature records were shattered in Japan, Republic of Korea and China.

In India, extreme heatwaves caused over 450 deaths across the country, the report said. During heatwaves in 2024, temperatures were in the range of 45-48 degree Celsius for sustained periods and touched a high of 50 degrees at some locations. The country also saw deadly lightning events, killing about 1,300 people, the report said.

Asia’s strongest and deadliest tropical cyclone in 2024 was Yagi. It impacted the Philippines, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Macau, China, Laos, Thailand and Myanmar, and according to estimates the damages ran into billions of dollars. While three tropical cyclones – Remal, Fengal, Dana – made landfall in the Indian sub-continent and killed about 90 people, cyclone Asna originating from Arabian Sea caused flooding in Gujarat and killed about 50 people.

In terms of extent, marine heatwaves created a record in 2024, impacting an area of nearly 15 million square kilometres. The northern Indian Ocean, adjacent to Japan and the Yellow and East China seas faced particularly severe or extreme intensity of marine heatwaves.

Glaciers continued to lose mass, as per the report, with 23 out of 24 glaciers in the High Mountain Asia region of central-south Asia spanning Himalayas, Pamir mountains, Karakoram, Hindu Kush.

“Reduced winter snowfall and extreme summer heat in the central Himalayas and most of the Tian Shan intensified mass loss for most glaciers. Notably, Urumqi Glacier No. 1, located in eastern Tian Shan, recorded its most negative mass balance since measurements began in 1959,” said the report.

In terms of rainfall, above normal rain was observed in Arabian desert, Balochistan, parts of Myanmar, certain islands in Japan and even in Siberian plains. Very heavy rainfall affected western Asia in mid-April with daily rainfall in some areas exceeding long-term annual average rainfall.