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Informist, Thursday, Jun. 18, 2026

 

MUMBAI – Asia warmed faster than the global average in recent decades, with the warming trend during 1991-2025 approximately twice that observed during 1961-1990, the World Meteorological Organization said in a report Wednesday. For Asia, 2025 was between the second- and fourth-warmest year on record, depending on the dataset used. Ocean heat in Asia reached a new record in 2025, affecting almost the entire ocean area of the continent, the organisation said.

 

Over 10 million square kilometres of Asia's ocean area was affected between July and September alone. The area is more than the size of China or the US. Continued ocean warming and acidification pose increasing risks to marine ecosystems and coastal communities in Asia, the organisation said in a study titled 'The State of the Climate in Asia 2025'. The study was produced by the organisation in collaboration with national meteorological and hydrological services, international data centres, leading climate research institutions, and UN partners.

 

Sea levels in Asia also reached their highest level since satellite records began in 1999, the organisation said. Rates of sea-level rise from 1999-2025 along much of the northern Indian Ocean coast exceeded the global average of approximately 3.6 millimetres per annum, reaching around 4.9 millimetres per annum along the Indian coast and more than 6 millimetres per annum in the Kuroshio Current region in the western North Pacific Ocean.

 

A pronounced warming trend has emerged across Asia since the latter half of the twentieth century, the organisation said. During 1991–2025, Asia warmed more rapidly than the global land-and-ocean average, and the regional warming trend was nearly twice as strong as during 1961–1990. Extreme heat was a defining feature of 2025 across much of Asia. Japan, China, and Korea all recorded their hottest summers on record, while prolonged heatwaves affected Central Asia, parts of West Asia, and the Arabian Peninsula, it said.

 

Extreme events in terms of rainfall prevailed across Asia, as the study highlights that there was either too much or too little rainfall recorded across the continent. Most of southern Asia received above-average precipitation in 2025, with the monsoon delivering exceptionally heavy rainfall. Conversely, below-average precipitation and prolonged dry conditions affected West Asia and Central Asia.

 

For the glaciological year 2025 (Oct-Sept), all 23 monitored glaciers in the High Mountain Asia region continued to lose mass, the organisation said. Below-average winter snow accumulation and persistently above-average temperatures from May to September drove substantial mass loss across most glaciers in the Tianshan and Pamir mountains.

 

The High Mountain Asia region, centred on the Tibetan plateau, holds the largest ice volume outside the polar regions, with glaciers covering an area of approximately 100,000 square km, the organisation said. Most glaciers across this region have been in sustained retreat over recent decades, which has accelerated since the mid-1990s. The melting of glaciers affects sea level, regional water cycles, and the occurrence of local hazards such as glacial lake outburst floods.

 

"Across Asia and the Pacific, heat is intensifying multi-hazard risks, intersecting with food systems, public health, infrastructure and oceans and placing new pressures on health and livelihoods. Early warning and early action save lives when alerts are timely, messages are trusted and last-mile delivery reaches the vulnerable. Resilience is built over time, through a sustained culture of preparedness," the report quoted Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana, UN under-secretary-general and executive secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, as saying.  End

 

Reported by Shreya Shetty

Edited by Rajeev Pai

 

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