WMO REPORT

1. Context

• Asia, the world's most disaster-prone region, endured a harrowing year in 2022, as per the latest report by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) released on July 27, 2023.
• The continent witnessed a staggering 81 weather, climate, and water-related disasters that directly impacted over 50 million people.
• Tragically, around 5,000 lives were lost, and economic damages soared to a devastating $36 billion.
• The extent of these hazards surpassed the previous year, with a significant rise in affected populations, facilities, and economic losses.

A Super Typhoon and Record-Breaking Heatwave

• Coinciding with the release of the report, a super typhoon struck China after battering Taiwan and the northern Philippines, claiming at least 25 lives.
• Adding to the extreme weather events, China experienced its highest-ever recorded temperature of 52 degrees Celsius on July 18.

Rising Temperatures and Extreme Weather

• The report points out that the mean temperature over Asia in 2022 was approximately 0.72 degrees Celsius above the 1991-2020 average and a concerning 1.68 degrees Celsius higher than the 1961-1990 average.
• This temperature surge has resulted in severe consequences, leading to an increase in extreme weather events across the continent.

Drought Devastates China

• In 2022, China faced a severe drought in the Yangtze River Basin, the worst in six decades.
• This drought not only affected crops, vegetation, and drinking water supply but also incurred a staggering economic loss of about $7.6 billion.

Pakistan's Monsoon Woes

• Pakistan experienced severe floods and monsoon rainfalls, with 60 percent of normal total monsoon rainfall occurring within just three weeks.
• Urban and flash floods, landslides, and glacial lake outburst floods wreaked havoc across the country.
• Over 33 million people were affected, and the calamities claimed the lives of more than 1,730 people, displacing almost eight million.

India's Deadly Floods

• India faced heavy and prolonged rainfall from May to September, triggering multiple landslides, river overflows, and floods.
• The disaster resulted in over 2,000 deaths and impacted 1.3 million people, making it the deadliest disaster event in India during 2022.

Economic Losses

• The report highlights that flood-related disasters caused economic losses surpassing the average for the 2002-2021 period.
• Pakistan incurred losses exceeding $15 billion, followed by China with over $5 billion and India with over $4.2 billion in damages.

Escalating Heat Waves

• Heatwaves emerged as a recurring extreme weather event in Asia in 2022.
• India and Pakistan experienced "abnormally warm conditions" during the pre-monsoon season (March-May). China, Hong Kong, and Japan also faced record-high temperatures.

Climate Change's Role

The 2023 annual report by the American Meteorological Society (AMS) confirms that climate change is intensifying extreme weather events worldwide, including floods, heatwaves, and droughts.

Impact on Agriculture

Asia's agriculture sector bore the brunt of climate-related disasters, accounting for more than 25 percent of all damage and losses due to floods, droughts, and tropical storms.

Melting Glaciers and Warming Seas

• Climate change's effects are further evident in the accelerating melting of four glaciers in the High Mountain Asia region, centered on the Tibetan Plateau, since the mid-1990s.
• Meanwhile, sea surface temperatures in the north-western Arabian Sea, the Philippine Sea, and the seas east of Japan are rising three times faster than the global average.

• The WMO report serves as a crucial call to action, emphasizing the urgency of combating climate change and its devastating impact on Asia's vulnerable populations and ecosystems.
• Without global collaboration and mitigation efforts, the region's escalating climate disasters could have far-reaching and irreversible consequences.