Effects of climate change increasing in Asia, WMO says

GENEVA (Reuters): Extreme weather events ranging from droughts to large-scale floods and other effects of climate change are on the rise in Asia and bound to affect food security and the continent’s ecosystems, the World Meteorological Organization said.

In a report published on Thursday, WMO said Asia was the world’s most disaster-impacted region, with 81 weather, climate and water-related disasters recorded last year, the majority of which were floods and storms.

It said these calamities had directly affected more than 50 million people and caused more than 5,000 deaths.

These included floods from record monsoon rains in Pakistan and glacial melt that killed more than 1,500 people, inundating swathes of the country and washing away homes and transportation infrastructure.

China, in turn, suffered drought, which affected the power supply and the availability of water.

The WMO report also highlighted that most glaciers the High-Mountain Asia region had loss significant mass as a result of warm and dry conditions in 2022.

“This will have major implications for future food and water security and ecosystems,” said WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas.