As per a recent analysis by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), Asia was the most disaster-prone area globally, with 79 incidents connected to extreme weather, climate, and water-related hazards affecting over nine million people and resulting in over 2,000 deaths. Storms and floods accounted for more than 80% of Asia’s hydrometeorological risks that were recorded.
According to the “State of the Climate in Asia 2023” study, which was published on Tuesday, floods were responsible for more than 60% of the 2,000 disaster-related deaths, while storms accounted for more than 15%. In 2023, storms had the most impact on individuals and the greatest financial loss.
There were just two fewer recorded catastrophe incidents in the region in 2023 than there were in 2022. The floods in Pakistan in 2022 alone had touched almost 30 million people, therefore the number of people affected in 2023 was comparatively smaller. The country of India endured the full force of extreme weather occurrences, including intense heatwaves, floods caused by rainfall, glacial lake outbursts, and tropical cyclones.
Asia has warmed more quickly than the world average, according to the analysis, and the warming trend has almost doubled between 1961 and 1990. The research underlined that Asia, its economy, and its ecosystems will face significant repercussions from the rapid acceleration of critical climate change indicators, including surface temperatures, glacier retreat, and sea level rise.
The report’s results, according to WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo, are alarming. Along with a plethora of extreme weather events, including heatwaves, floods, and storms, 2023 was the warmest year on record for several of the region’s countries. The frequency and intensity of these occurrences have increased due to climate change, she added, having a significant negative influence on businesses, society, and most critically, human lives and the environment.
According to the research, intense heat waves in April and June 2023 caused around 110 deaths from heatstroke. Over a hundred persons passed away in Uttar Pradesh’s Ballia and Deoria districts last year, many of them were elderly individuals with co-morbidities. According to the research, the region saw temperatures between 42 and 43 degrees Celsius at the time of these heat-related fatalities.
In April and May, a protracted heatwave also impacted a large portion of Southeast Asia, reaching westward into Bangladesh, eastern India, and even portions of China.
August 2023 saw flood occurrences in India; according to the report, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand reported 25 fatalities along with significant damage to crops and infrastructure. The catastrophe, which was sparked by a lot of rain, made the impacts of a June monsoon surge worse. According to the article, rescue and relief efforts were launched by the Indian government after it proclaimed a state of emergency in the most impacted districts.
In 2023, there were six tropical cyclones that developed in the North Indian Ocean and affected the Indian subcontinent. According to the study, the cyclone activity was somewhat higher than the average of 5.4 cyclones. Two of the six cyclones, Biparjoy and Tej, developed over the Arabian Sea, while four, Mocha, Hamoon, Midhili, and Michaung, formed over the Bay of Bengal. On May 14, the exceptionally powerful cyclonic storm Mocha made landfall in Myanmar’s Rakhine Coast, killing 156 people. On December 5, Michaung made landfall in south Andhra Pradesh, India, taking 22 lives with it.
The “significant glacial lake outburst flood” that happened in South Lhonak Lake in Sikkim on October 4 of last year was also included in the study. The Sikkim government said that more than forty people were killed in the disaster, which overtopped and breached the Chungthang dam downstream on the Teesta River.
The study said that “this type of disaster is increasingly observed because of the retreat of glaciers brought on by climate change and highlights the compounding and cascading risks faced by vulnerable mountain communities.”
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