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Asia was essentially the most disaster-hit area on the planet final yr as excessive climate and local weather threats intensified amid world warming, based on the World Meteorological Group, the UN’s climate company.
“Many international locations within the area skilled their hottest yr on document in 2023, together with a barrage of maximum situations, from droughts and heatwaves to floods and storms,” stated WMO Secretary-Basic Celeste Saulo stated in a report launched this week.
Greater than 9 million folks on the continent have been affected by the floods and storms, resulting in over 2,000 casualties. In the meantime, a pattern of elevated warmth waves within the area continued.
“Local weather change has exacerbated the frequency and severity of such occasions, profoundly impacting societies, economies and, most significantly, human lives,” Saulo added.
The report warned that key local weather change indicators, corresponding to floor temperature, glacier melting, and sea degree rise, signaled worsening situations and the necessity for larger catastrophe danger prevention in Asia.
Temperatures up, precipitation risky
In 2023, the imply temperature over Asia was the second highest on document.
“With the warming pattern nearly doubling for the reason that interval from 1960–1990, Asia is heating up quicker than the worldwide common, with elevated casualties and financial losses,” based on WMO’s report.
Notably excessive temperatures final yr have been seen in areas from western Siberia to central Asia, and from jap China to Japan, whereas international locations like Japan and Kazakhstan skilled document warmth, the report discovered.
In accordance with a NASA report, elevated temperatures are related to variations in precipitation and elevated frequency of each drought and excessive water occasions. Different scientists have additionally warned that sustained intervals of dryness can set off floods when heavy rains happen.
Whereas WMO discovered that a lot of Asia suffered from a considerable lack of precipitation in 2023, there have been additionally many excessive climate occasions related to heavy rainfall and flooding.
In accordance with a current report, extreme floods in China and droughts in India induced most of Asia-Pacific’s $65 billion of financial damages final yr.
Heavy floods struck northern China in July — which witnessed among the worst storms in years, whereas the capital of Beijing noticed the heaviest rainfall in 140 years. In the meantime, the southwest of China suffered from sustained drought, with below-normal precipitation ranges almost each month of 2023.
India additionally suffered from floods and drought, with the latter reaching unprecedented ranges in August, the world’s hottest month ever recorded. The nation additionally noticed heatwaves in April and June that induced over 100 deaths by heatstroke.
The WMO report famous {that a} lack of rainfall may even have detrimental results on ingesting water sources, agriculture, business, and hydropower.
Higher preparedness wanted
The WMO has referred to as for higher local weather preparedness throughout Asia.
Authors of the report argued the info confirms the necessity for early warning programs for excessive climate and extra catastrophe danger discount to mitigate losses and harm brought on by local weather change sooner or later.
The area already suffered 3,612 pure disasters between 1970 and 2021, inflicting $1.4 trillion in financial losses and almost 1,000,000 deaths — accounting for 47% of the overall world deaths attributable to pure disasters over the identical interval.
In accordance with the WMO, the harm brought on by a catastrophe could be diminished by 30% given an early warning is issued inside 24 hours.
Saulo stated the report’s findings have been “sobering.”
“We’re at a essential juncture, the place the influence of local weather change intersects with societal inequalities,” she stated within the report.