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According to the World Meteorological Organization, the UN’s climate agency, Asia was the worst-hit region in the world last year as extreme weather and climate threats intensified amid global warming.
“Many countries in the region are set to record their hottest year on record in 2023, with a barrage of extreme conditions, from droughts and heat waves to floods and cyclones,” WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo said in a report released this week. .
More than 9 million people on the continent were affected by the floods and storms, which resulted in more than 2,000 deaths. Meanwhile, the heat wave continued to increase in the region.
“Climate change has intensified the frequency and severity of such events, severely affecting societies, economies, and most importantly, human lives,” Saulo added.
The report warned that key indicators of climate change, such as surface temperatures, melting glaciers, and sea level rise, indicate worsening conditions and the need for greater disaster risk prevention in Asia.
In 2023, Asia’s average temperature was the highest on record.
“According to the WMO, with the warming trend nearly doubling from the 1960s to 1990s, Asia is warming faster than the global average, and economic losses and losses are increasing.
Last year, extremely high temperatures were observed in areas from Western Siberia to Central Asia and from eastern China to Japan, while countries such as Japan and Kazakhstan experienced record heat, the report said.
According to NASA, rising temperatures are associated with changes in precipitation and increased frequency of droughts and extreme water events. Other scientists have also warned that persistent dry spells could cause flooding during heavy rains.
While the WMO found that much of Asia would suffer from a lack of rainfall in 2023, there were also many extreme weather events with heavy rainfall and flooding.
According to a recently published report, severe floods in China and drought in India caused the most economic damage of $65 billion in Asia and the Pacific last year.
Severe flooding hit northern China in July – which saw some of the worst storms in years, while the capital Beijing saw its heaviest rainfall in 140 years. Meanwhile, southwest China suffers from persistent drought, with below-normal rainfall levels almost every month in 2023.
India also suffers from floods and droughts, which reached record levels in August, the world’s hottest month on record. The country also witnessed a heat wave in April and June that caused more than 100 deaths due to heatstroke.
The WMO report noted that the lack of rainfall can have devastating effects on drinking water resources, agriculture, industry and hydropower.
The WMO has called for better climate preparedness across Asia.
The authors of the report argue that the data confirm the need for early warning systems for extreme weather and further disaster risk reduction to reduce future loss and damage from climate change.
The region has already experienced 3,612 natural disasters between 1970 and 2021, causing economic losses of $1.4 trillion and nearly one million deaths, accounting for 47% of all global deaths from natural disasters during the same period.
According to the WMO, the damage caused by a disaster can be reduced by 30% because early warning is issued within 24 hours.
Saulo said the report’s findings were “exciting.”
“We are at a critical juncture where the impact of climate change intersects with social inequalities,” he said in the report.
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