The annual imply near-surface temperature over Asia in 2023 was the second highest on document
Geneva:
Asia was the world’s most disaster-hit area from local weather and climate hazards in 2023, the United Nations mentioned Tuesday, with floods and storms the chief reason for casualties and financial losses.International temperatures hit document highs final 12 months, and the UN’s climate and local weather company mentioned Asia was warming at a very speedy tempo.
The World Meteorological Group mentioned the affect of heatwaves in Asia was changing into extra extreme, with melting glaciers threatening the area’s future water safety.
The WMO mentioned Asia was warming quicker than the worldwide common, with temperatures final 12 months practically two levels Celsius above the 1961 to 1990 common.
“The report’s conclusions are sobering,” WMO chief Celeste Saulo mentioned in an announcement.
“Many nations within the area skilled their hottest 12 months on document in 2023, together with a barrage of utmost circumstances, from droughts and heatwaves to floods and storms.
“Local weather change exacerbated the frequency and severity of such occasions, profoundly impacting societies, economies, and, most significantly, human lives and the atmosphere that we stay in.”
The State of the Local weather in Asia 2023 report highlighted the accelerating charge of key local weather change indicators reminiscent of floor temperature, glacier retreat and sea stage rise, saying they might have critical repercussions for societies, economies and ecosystems within the area.
“Asia remained the world’s most disaster-hit area from climate, local weather and water-related hazards in 2023,” the WMO mentioned.
Warmth, melting and floods
The annual imply near-surface temperature over Asia in 2023 was the second highest on document, at 0.91 levels Celsius above the 1991-2020 common, and 1.87 C above the 1961-1990 common.
Significantly excessive common temperatures have been recorded from western Siberia to central Asia, and from jap China to Japan, the report mentioned, with Japan having its hottest summer time on document.
As for precipitation, it was beneath regular within the Himalayas and within the Hindu Kush mountain vary in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
In the meantime southwest China suffered from a drought, with below-normal precipitation ranges in practically each month of the 12 months.
The Excessive-Mountain Asia area, centred on the Tibetan Plateau, comprises the most important quantity of ice outdoors of the polar areas.
During the last a number of many years, most of those glaciers have been retreating, and at an accelerating charge, the WMO mentioned, with 20 out of twenty-two monitored glaciers within the area displaying continued mass loss final 12 months.
The report mentioned 2023 sea-surface temperatures within the northwest Pacific Ocean have been the very best on document.
‘Urgency’ for motion
Final 12 months, 79 disasters related to water-related climate hazards have been reported in Asia. Of these, greater than 80 p.c have been floods and storms, with greater than 2,000 deaths and 9 million folks instantly affected.
“Floods have been the main reason for demise in reported occasions in 2023 by a considerable margin,” the WMO mentioned, noting the persevering with excessive stage of vulnerability of Asia to pure hazard occasions.
Hong Kong recorded 158.1 millimetres of rainfall in a single hour on September 7 — the very best since information started in 1884, on account of a storm.
The WMO mentioned there was an pressing want for nationwide climate providers throughout the area to enhance tailor-made data to officers engaged on decreasing catastrophe dangers.
“It’s crucial that our actions and methods mirror the urgency of those instances,” mentioned Saulo.
“Lowering greenhouse gasoline emissions and adapting to the evolving local weather will not be merely an choice, however a elementary necessity.”
(Aside from the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV workers and is printed from a syndicated feed.)
