In 2024, Asia’s mean temperature climbed to 1.04 °C above the 1991–2020 baseline, making it either the warmest or second-warmest year on record, WMO warns.
Asia is heating up faster than any other region on Earth—nearly twice as fast as the global average—ushering in unprecedented risks for its two-thirds of humanity. That stark finding, drawn from the World Meteorological Organization’s new State of the Climate in Asia 2024 report, underscores a brutal truth: environmental shifts once measured in decades are now unfolding in years, and the human—and economic—stakes have never been higher.
RELEVANT SUSTAINABLE GOALS
A Continent on a Fast Track to Warming
In 2024, Asia’s mean temperature climbed to 1.04 °C above the 1991–2020 baseline, making it either the warmest or second-warmest year on record, depending on the data set. By contrast, the planet as a whole has warmed more slowly, propelling Asia to the front lines of climate change. Between 1991 and 2024, the rate of warming in Asia nearly doubled compared with the 1961–1990 period—a trend driven in part by the continent’s vast landmass, which heats more rapidly than the oceans it borders.
Prolonged heatwaves swept across China, Japan and the Republic of Korea in 2024, while Myanmar shattered its national record, reaching a blistering 48.2 °C. Such extremes test the limits of human endurance and strain the infrastructure of cities ill-prepared for sustained high temperatures.
Ocean Heatwaves and Rising Sea
Asia’s coastal waters are also registering alarming highs. Sea surface temperatures surged at 0.24 °C per decade—nearly double the global rate of 0.13 °C—fueling intense marine heatwaves across the Northern Arabian Sea and Pacific margins. During August and September 2024 alone, nearly 15 million square kilometers of regional ocean—equivalent to the area of Russia—experienced unusually high temperatures.
Warmer seas have driven sea levels on both the Pacific and Indian Ocean coasts above the global average, heightening flooding risks for low-lying communities. Fisherfolk and tourism operators report declining catches and coastal erosion, while coral reefs face bleaching and ecosystem collapse.
High in the Himalayas, often called the Earth’s “Third Pole,” and across the Tian Shan in Kyrgyzstan, the heat has battered the continent’s frozen reservoirs. In 2024, 23 of 24 monitored glaciers in these ranges suffered net mass loss, fuelling glacial lake outburst floods and landslides. Reduced snowfall and searing summers are spurring a record pace of melt across Asia’s roughly 100,000 sq km of ice—an area the size of Egypt.
Billions depend on rivers born of these glaciers—the Ganga, Brahmaputra and Yangtze—for drinking water, irrigation and hydropower. Urumqi Glacier No. 1 in the eastern Tian Shan recorded its most negative mass balance since measurements began in 1959, a chilling indicator of long-term water security risks downstream.
Extreme Rainfall, Cyclones and Human Toll
Erratic monsoon patterns, intensified by ocean heat, have unleashed devastating rainfall and cyclones. On July 30 last year, landslides triggered by extreme downpours in India’s Kerala state claimed 350 lives. In August, floods in Nepal killed 246 people and inflicted US$94 million in damages. Meanwhile in China, drought affected nearly 4.8 million residents, resulting in over US$400 million in direct losses.
“The State of the Climate in Asia report highlights changes in key climate indicators—surface temperature, glacier mass and sea level—that will have major repercussions for societies, economies and ecosystems,” said WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo at the report’s launch. “Extreme weather is already exacting an unacceptably high toll.”
Absent from the report’s pages is Asia’s ambient air pollution, which amplifies warming and glacier melt. Nearly all of the world’s 50 most polluted cities in 2024 sat in Asia—particularly across the densely inhabited Indo-Gangetic Plain. Black carbon, a byproduct of fossil-fuel combustion, darkens ice surfaces and traps heat in the atmosphere, accelerating both regional warming and ice loss.
A Silver Lining: Early Warning Systems
Amid grim projections, Nepal offers a model of resilience. By investing in early warning systems for floods and glacial hazards, authorities have managed to anticipate extreme events and reduce casualties. The WMO is urging all Asian nations to follow suit, stressing that timely forecasts and community drills can save lives and livelihoods. “The work of National Meteorological and Hydrological Services and their partners is more important than ever,” Saulo emphasized.
As Asia grapples with its rapid warming trend, the lesson is clear: mitigation must be matched by preparedness. With billions at risk, the continent’s future hinges on transforming alarming climate data into coordinated action—and ensuring that early warnings ring loud enough to spur change.
You may also be interested in :
South Asia Scorches In Early Heatwave: A Warning Sign Of Accelerating Climate Crisis
