UN climate report: PHL warming at faster rate

ASIAN countries like the Philippines are warming faster than the global average, according to a new report from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

In the State of the Climate in Asia 2023 report, WMO said the warming trend has nearly doubled since the 1961–1990 period.

The report said the Philippine Sea along with the North-western Arabian Sea and the seas east of Japan have seen temperature increases that are more than three times faster than the global mean upper ocean warming rate.

“The report’s conclusions are sobering. Many countries in the region experienced their hottest year on record in 2023, along with a barrage of extreme conditions, from droughts and heatwaves to floods and storms. Climate change exacerbated the frequency and severity of such events, profoundly impacting societies, economies, and, most importantly, human lives and the environment that we live in,” said WMO Secretary-general Celeste Saulo in a statement.

In 2023, the WMO reported that sea-surface temperatures in the north-west Pacific Ocean were also the highest on record. The specialized agency of the United Nations also said even the Arctic Ocean suffered a marine heatwave.

Per the WMO, the annual mean near-surface temperature over Asia in 2023 was the second highest on record, 0.91 degrees celsius (0.84 °C–0.96 °C) above the 1991–2020 average and 1.87 °C (1.81 °C–1.92 °C) above the 1961– 1990 average.

“Particularly high average temperatures were recorded from western Siberia to central Asia and from eastern China to Japan.

Japan and Kazakhstan each had record warm years,”wmo stated.

The UN agency said sea surface in the areas of the Kuroshio current system (west side of the North Pacific Ocean basin), the Arabian Sea, the Southern Barents Sea, the Southern Kara Sea, and the South-eastern Laptev Sea is warming more than three times faster than the globally averaged sea surface temperature.

In 2023, the area-averaged sea surface temperature anomalies were the warmest on record in the North-west Pacific Ocean.

“The Barents Sea is identified as a climate change hotspot because ocean surface warming has a major impact on sea-ice cover, and there is a feedback mechanism in which loss of sea-ice in turn enhances ocean warming because darker sea surfaces can absorb more solar energy than the highly reflective sea-ice,”wmo said.

“Marine heatwaves—prolonged periods of extreme heat that affect the ocean—occurred in a large area of the Arctic Ocean, in the Eastern Arabian Sea and the Northern Pacific, and lasted three to five months,” it added.

Many parts of Asia experienced extreme heat events in 2023. Japan saw its hottest summer on record. China experienced 14 high temperature events in summer, with about 70 percent of national meteorological stations exceeding 40°C and 16 stations breaking their temperature records.

In India, severe heatwaves in April and June caused 110 heatstroke fatalities. A major and prolonged heatwave affected much of South-east Asia in April and May, extending as far west as Bangladesh and Eastern India, and north to southern China, with record- breaking temperatures.

Apart from rising surface temperatures, the report noted that a number of Asian countries have experienced below-normal precipitation in 2023.

These included large parts of the Turan Lowland (Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan); the Hindu Kush (Afghanistan, Pakistan); the Himalayas; around the Ganges and lower course of the Brahmaputra Rivers (India and Bangladesh); the Arakan Mountains (Myanmar); and the lower course of the Mekong River.

WMO said Southwest China also suffered from drought, with below-normal precipitation levels nearly every month of 2023, and the rains associated with the Indian Summer Monsoon were below average.

“Yet again, in 2023, vulnerable countries were disproportionately impacted. For example, tropical cyclone Mocha, the strongest cyclone in the Bay of Bengal in the last decade, hit Bangladesh and Myanmar. Early warning and better preparedness saved thousands of lives,” said Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana, Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (Escap), which partnered in producing the report.

“In this context, the State of the Climate in Asia 2023 report is an effort to bridge gaps between climate science and disaster risk through evidence-based policy proposals. Escap and WMO, working in partnership, will continue to invest in raising climate ambition and accelerating the implementation of sound policy, including bringing an early warning to all in the region so that no one is left behind as our climate change crisis continues to evolve,” she said.

WMO also said the report highlighted the accelerating rate of key climate change indicators such as glacier retreat and sea level rise, which will have major repercussions for societies, economies and ecosystems in the region.

The report said some 80 percent of WMO Members in the region provide climate services to support disaster risk reduction activities. However, less than 50 percent of members provide climate projections and tailored products that are needed to inform risk management and adaptation to and mitigation of climate change and its impacts.

In 2023, a total of 17 named tropical cyclones formed over the western North Pacific Ocean and the South China Sea. This was below average but there were still major impacts and record-breaking rainfall in countries including China, Japan, the Philippines and Republic of Korea.

In the North Indian Ocean basin, Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm Mocha made landfall along the Rakhine Coast in Myanmar on 14 May, causing widespread destruction and 156 reported deaths.

Several extreme precipitation events took place in 2023. In June, July and August, several floods and storm events resulted in more than 600 reported deaths across India, Pakistan, and Nepal.

The Hong Kong Observatory Headquarters recorded an hourly rainfall total of 158.1 mm on 7 September, the highest since records began in 1884, as a result of a typhoon. Several stations in Vietnam observed recordbreaking daily rainfall amounts in October.

Heavy rainfall led to flooding in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in November. Yemen also suffered heavy rainfall and resulting widespread flooding.

WMO said in August and early September 2023, the far eastern part of the Russian Federation suffered catastrophic flooding in one of the largest disasters in recent decades, affecting about 40,000 hectares of rural land.

The report, one of a series of WMO regional State of the Climate reports, was released during the 80th session of the Commission in Bangkok, Thailand.

It is based on inputs from National Meteorological and Hydrological Services, United Nations partners and a network of climate experts. It reflects WMO’S commitment to prioritize regional initiatives and inform decision-making.