Asia is warming twice as fast as the rest of the world: WMO report
In 2024, Asia’s average temperature was about 1.04°C above the 1991–2020 average
June 23, 2025
It is that part of the year in Pakistan again when nights are as sweltering as the days. Want to know why? Because Asia is warming nearly twice as fast as the global average, thanks to the accelerating impacts of climate change.
“Asia is warming twice as fast as the rest of the world”, according to the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), with more extreme weather and a heavy toll on the region’s economies, ecosystems and societies.
The WMO’s State of the Climate in Asia 2024 report marked 2024 as the warmest or second warmest year on record, with widespread and prolonged heatwaves. The warming trend between 1991–2024 was almost double that during the 1961–1990 period.
“In 2024, heatwaves gripped a record area of the ocean. Sea surface temperatures were the highest on record, with Asia’s sea surface decadal warming rate nearly double the global average. Sea level rise on the Pacific and Indian Ocean sides of the continent exceeded the global average, heightening risks for low-lying coastal areas,” said the report.
“Reduced winter snowfall and extreme summer heat were punishing for glaciers. In the central Himalayas and the Tian Shan, 23 out of 24 glaciers suffered mass loss, leading to an increase in hazards like glacial lake outburst floods and landslides and long-term risks for water security. Extreme rainfall wreaked havoc and heavy casualties in many countries in the region, and tropical cyclones left a trail of destruction, whilst drought caused heavy economic and agricultural losses.”
The report also included a case study from Nepal, showing how strengthened early warning systems and anticipatory action enable communities to prepare for and respond to climate variability and change, thereby helping to protect lives and livelihoods.
Rising temperatures
In 2024, Asia’s average temperature was about 1.04°C above the 1991–2020 average, ranking as the warmest or second warmest year on record, depending on the dataset.
“Asia is warming more than twice as fast as the global average because the temperature increase over land is larger than the temperature increase over the ocean. Many parts of the region experienced extreme heat events in 2024. Heat waves were also reported in Southeast Asia, Central Asia, and the Middle East. Myanmar set a new national temperature record of 48.2°C,” added the WMO report.
Pakistan, which contributes only 1% of global greenhouse gas emissions annually, is the world’s fifth-most vulnerable country to climate disasters. However, the punishing heatwaves continue to mark new highs in temperature across much of Pakistan.
According to a Pakistan Monthly Climate report for the month of May 2025, the national mean temperature at 31.07°C was warmer than the country’s average of 28.94°C with an anomaly of +2.12 °C, as the 5th highest in the past 65 years.
“Rising temperatures drive ever more intense and unpredictable weather. Children and older people in Pakistan are suffering on the front line of the climate crisis, exposed to extreme heat or floods that lead to disproportionate levels of death and disease,” researcher Laura Mills said in an Amnesty International report.
