Natural disasters: Asia, the most affected continent

Asia was in 2023 "the region of the world most affected by catastrophes" related to meteorological conditions, with floods and storms causing the most victims and the greatest economic losses during the past year, reveals a UN report. "Climate change has exacerbated the frequency and severity of events of this type, with a profound impact on societies, economies and, more importantly, on human lives and the environment we live in," said Celeste Saulo, director of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). . The year 2023 was the hottest year recorded so far in the world, and in Asia the impact of heat waves is becoming more and more severe, a fact contributed to by the melting of glaciers - especially in the Himalayas -, which threatens the water security of the region, notes WHO. Asia is warming faster than the global average, with temperatures last year averaging nearly two degrees Celsius higher than the average from 1961 to 1990. The State of the Climate in Asia 2023 report highlights the accelerating pace of key indicators of climate change, such as temperature surface area, glacier retreat and sea level rise, warning that these will have serious repercussions on societies, economies and ecosystems in the region. Last year, the average annual near-surface temperature in Asia was the second warmest on record, 0.91 degrees Celsius above the 1991-2020 average and 1.87 degrees Celsius above the 1961- 1990. Particularly high average temperatures were recorded from eastern Siberia to central Asia and from eastern China to Japan; Japan experienced its hottest summer, rainfall was below normal in the Himalayas and the Hindu Kush mountains of Pakistan and Afghanistan, and southwest China suffered from drought. The high mountain area of Asia, centered on the Tibetan Plateau, contains the largest volume of ice outside the polar regions. During the last decades, however, most of these glaciers have retreated, at an accelerated rate, according to the WMO; eight of the 22 monitored glaciers in the region lost volume during 2023. The report also notes that in 2023 sea surface temperatures in the Pacific Northwest were the highest ever recorded; at the same time, 79 disasters associated with hydrometeorological conditions were reported in Asia - 80% of them floods and storms, resulting in over 2000 deaths. Nine million people were directly affected. "The report's conclusions are thought-provoking", according to the WMO, which also points out that it is urgent for the national meteorological services in the region to produce data in order to be able to alert better in risk situations.