How do extreme climate events impact Asia?
What does the 2023 ‘State of the Climate in Asia’ report say? What does it mean for India?
India’s early preparedness when dealing with cyclones is commendable, but managing deaths and destruction caused by lightning needs improvement, says Sreejith O.P., scientist and lead author on the climate report
The story so far:
Asia has warmed faster than the global average since 1960, the World Meteorological Organization’s 2023
‘State of the Climate in Asia’ report said. It also reiterated that 2023 was the warmest on record around the world. The climate report also noted an “alarming gap” between climate projections and the ability of Asian countries to adapt to and mitigate climate change and its impacts.
What toll did heat exact on Asia?
More than 2,000 people were killed and more than nine million were aected by extreme climate events across Asia in 2023. More than 80% of these events were related to storms and oods. The report also recorded several parts experiencing severe heat waves, leading to multiple fatalities, but acknowledged that heat-related mortality is widely under-reported. In India, severe heat waves in April and June killed around 110 people. A prolonged heat wave engulfed large parts of South and South-East
Asia in April and May, aecting areas from Bangladesh and eastern India to southern China.
How did oods and storms a ect Asia?
Tropical cyclone Mocha, which aected Myanmar and Bangladesh in May 2023, was the strongest cyclone in the Bay of Bengal in the last decade. Shortly after, oods, landslides, and lightning killed around 600 people across India, Pakistan, and Nepal in June and July 2023. In India, oods and landslides in August 2023, primarily in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, killed at least 25. Lightning accounted for 1,200 deaths around India through the year.
How well can Asia spot a coming disaster?
An early-warning system is an integrated process that monitors, predicts, and forecasts hazards. It also includes activities related to risk-assessment, communications, and preparedness that allow individuals, communities, governments, businesses, etc. to take timely action to mitigate risks.
Thanks to such systems, for example, authorities in Bangladesh had a day’s head-start to prepare for cyclone Mocha and take anticipatory action in Cox’s Bazar, which allowed local communities to better survive its landfall. Twenty-one Asian countries reported the status of their early warning systems to the UN. According to the UN Oce for Disaster Risk Reduction, the average composite score for the availability of and access to multi-hazard early warning systems was 0.46 out of 1 in Asia; 0.58 for preparedness to respond; and 0.50 for observation and forecasting. To compare, the world scored 0.35, 0.78, and 0.33, respectively, on average on these counts. Warning and dissemination was the strongest area under the framework for Asia while risk knowledge was the weakest.
According to the report, fewer than half of all Asian countries have the tools to mitigate climate change impact.
What do these ndings mean for India?
“The ¡ndings of the report are in sync with the analysis of our agency,” Sreejith O.P., scientist with the India Meteorological Department, Pune and a lead author of the State of the Climate in Asia report, told The Hindu. “Extreme climate events are rising globally, including in India. But with improved preparedness, we can minimise the damage. We used early warnings when cyclone Mocha, one of the strongest in the Bay of Bengal, was about to hit. Earlier, similar cyclones have killed thousands of people,” he added. While Dr. Sreejith commended India’s early preparedness when dealing with cyclones, he said managing deaths and destruction caused by lightning needs improvement. “The response time for lightning is very less. Although we have built mobile applications and other tools, marginalised communities are unable to utilise it,” he said. According to Dr. Sreejith, some groups like farmers who work in ¡elds, are already out and away from sources of information by the time an alert can be sent.
“While India has historically demonstrated commendable resilience in responding to oods, storms, and droughts, the new and escalating challenges posed by climate change — such as unprecedented heatwaves, the retreat of glaciers, and rising sea levels — reveal that our preparedness is alarmingly inadequate,” said Harjeet Singh, Global Engagement Director at the Fossil Fuel Treaty Initiative. “These emerging threats require urgent attention and a strategic overhaul of our current policies and adaptation strategies. It is crucial that we empower our communities with the necessary resources and policies to eectively combat these evolving climatic adversities,” he added.