Bangkok, Apr 23 (EFE).- Specialized United Nations agency World Meteorological Organization (WMO) on Tuesday warned of the growing danger faced by Asia due to the climate crisis and the increasing frequency and severity of extreme heat waves.
“Many countries in the region experienced their hottest year on record in 2023, along with a barrage of extreme conditions, from droughts and heat waves to floods and storms,” WMO secretary-general Celeste Saulo said in a statement.
The organization, which on Tuesday published its report titled “Climate change and extreme weather impacts hit Asia hard,” highlighted that high average temperatures were recorded in much of the continent.
“Above average temperatures were recorded from western Siberia to central Asia and from eastern China to Japan. Japan and Kazakhstan each had record warm years,” said the report, adding that many parts of the region experienced extreme heat events in 2023.
According to WMO records, the continent’s warming rate exceeds the global average, and the warming trend has almost doubled since the period between 1961 and 1990.
Rising temperatures have also affected the sea surface, with record highs in the northwestern Pacific, and even the Arctic Ocean suffered a marine heat wave.
This phenomenon has resulted in droughts and a period of below-average rainfall in several Asian countries, as well as the rapid melting of glaciers.
In 2023, Asia remained the region in the world most affected by meteorological disasters, the vast majority of them related to floods and storms, which left around 2,000 fatalities and 9 million people directly affected.
However, the report pointed out that despite the growing health risks posed by extreme heat, heat-related mortality was not reported frequently.
“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 Saulo. EFE
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