Asia currently warming nearly twice as fast as global average: WMO report

Asia is currently warming nearly twice as fast as the global average, fueling more extreme weather and wreaking a heavy toll on the region’s economies, ecosystems and societies, according to a report published by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) on the ‘State of the Climate in Asia 2024’ published on Monday.

The State of the Climate reports, which provide policy-relevant information for national and regional decision-making, have previously reported in 2024 that the impact of heatwaves in Asia was becoming more severe, with melting glaciers threatening the region’s future water security.

The new report says that 2024 was the warmest or second-warmest year on record depending on the dataset, with widespread and prolonged heatwaves. The warming trend between 1991–2024 was almost double that of the 1961–1990 period.

Asia is the continent with the largest land mass extending to the Arctic, and is warming more than twice as fast as the global average because the temperature increase over land is larger than the temperature increase over the ocean.

In 2024, heatwaves gripped a record area of the ocean. Sea surface temperatures were the highest on record, with Asia’s sea surface warming rate 0.24°C per decade – nearly double the global average.

Sea level rise on the Pacific and Indian Ocean sides of the continent exceeded the global average, heightening risks for low-lying coastal areas.

In 2024, most of the ocean area of Asia was affected by marine heatwaves of strong, severe, or extreme intensity – the largest extent since records began in 1993. The northern Indian Ocean and in the ocean area adjacent to Japan, the Yellow and East China seas were especially affected.

During August and September 2024, nearly 15 million square kilometers of the region’s ocean was impacted – one tenth of the Earth’s entire ocean surface, about the same size as the Russian Federation and more than 1.5 times the area of China.

Large parts of the Arctic Ocean experienced significant sea ice melt, with the ice edge shifting far northward by the end of the season.

In the High-Mountain Asia (HMA) region, 23 out of 24 glaciers suffered continued mass loss during 2023-2024, intensified by reduced winter snowfall and extreme summer heat in the central Himalayas and most of the Tian Shan.

The HMA region, centered on the Tibetan Plateau, contains the largest volume of ice outside the polar regions, with glaciers covering an area of approximately 100 000 square km. It is known as the world’s Third Pole.

Over the last several decades, most glaciers in this region have been retreating.

“The melting of glaciers affects sea level, regional water cycles and the occurrence of local hazards such as glacial lake outburst floods”, the report said.

Substantial precipitation deficits in the region were observed around the Laptev Sea and the lower and middle course of the Lena River towards the Yablonoi Mountains (Russian Federation), and around the East Sayan (Russian Federation) and Khangai Mountains (Mongolia). Parts of the Hindu Kush (Afghanistan) and western Himalayas (Pakistan) were drier than usual.

Meanwhile, severe snow melt and record-breaking rainfall in Central Asia (mainly Kazakhstan and southern Russia) led to the worst flooding in at least 70 years, forcing the evacuation of 118 000 people were evacuated.

West Asia was also hit by heavy rainfall: in the United Arab Emirates, 259.5 mm of rain fell in 24 hours – one of the most extreme precipitation events since records began in 1949.

Extreme rainfall wreaked havoc and heavy casualties in many countries in the region, and tropical cyclones left a trail of destruction, while drought caused heavy 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,” said WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo according to a press release by the organisation.

“Extreme weather is already exacting an unacceptably high toll.”

“The work of National Meteorological and Hydrological Services and their partners is more important than ever to save lives and livelihoods,” she said.

The report included a case study from Nepal, showing how strengthened early warning systems and anticipatory action enable communities to prepare for and respond to climate variability and change, thereby helping to protect lives and livelihoods.