New Delhi, June 23, 2025 – Asia is heating up nearly twice as fast as the global average, placing the region at the center of escalating climate risks, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) warned in its newly released “State of the Climate in Asia 2024” report. The findings underscore that 2024 was among the warmest years on record for the continent, with widespread and prolonged heatwaves devastating ecosystems and economies alike.
According to the report, the warming trend from 1991 to 2024 was nearly double that of the 1961–1990 period. The WMO highlighted alarming changes in sea surface temperatures, which reached record highs across much of Asia, with the region’s seas warming at almost twice the global average rate. The Indian and Pacific Ocean coasts experienced sea level rise surpassing global levels, heightening the risks for densely populated and low-lying coastal regions.
The High-Mountain Asia region, which includes parts of the Himalayas and Tian Shan, continued to witness dramatic glacier retreat. Out of 24 monitored glaciers, 23 suffered mass loss in 2023–2024, worsening threats like glacial lake outburst floods, landslides, and long-term freshwater scarcity.
WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo warned, “Extreme weather is already exacting an unacceptably high toll. Climate indicators like temperature, glacier mass, and sea level are changing rapidly—and with major repercussions.” She stressed the need for stronger early warning systems and regional cooperation to protect lives and livelihoods.
The report detailed that almost 15 million square kilometers of Asia’s oceanic territory experienced intense marine heatwaves in 2024—the largest such extent since records began in 1993. This area, equivalent to the size of Russia, saw abnormally high temperatures especially in the northern Arabian Sea, around Japan, the Yellow Sea, and the East China Sea.
Inland, the story was equally dire. Prolonged droughts crippled agriculture in parts of Central and South Asia, while tropical cyclones and extreme rainfall triggered deadly floods. A sharp uptick in humanitarian disasters underscored the climate emergency’s toll on Asia’s most vulnerable populations.
The report also featured a case study from Nepal, demonstrating how proactive early warning systems helped communities better respond to climate extremes—a sign, the WMO said, of the critical role of anticipatory action.
Sea-level rise, accelerated ice melt in the Arctic, and extreme glacier retreat across High-Mountain Asia further compounded concerns. In China’s Tian Shan mountains, Urumqi Glacier No. 1 recorded its most severe mass loss since monitoring began in 1959 due to diminished winter snowfall and scorching summer heat.
The WMO concluded that Asia is among the most climate-vulnerable regions in the world, and without urgent and coordinated adaptation and mitigation efforts, the impacts of accelerating warming will intensify.
