WMO flagship report reveals that Asia is warming at twice the global average  

The World Meteorological Organisation’s (WMO) State of the Climate in Asia 2024 report predicts worsening repercussions of climate extremes in Asia, warming twice as fast as the global average.  The findings of the report corroborate ICIMOD’s 2025 HKH Snow Update and 2025 Monsoon Outlook, both forecasting escalating likelihood of (water-related) calamities for the Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) region of Asia, in particular.   

Continent ‘hit hard by rising temperatures and extreme weather’, states the United Nations’ authority on climate, weather, and water, as weather extremes ranging from prolonged heatwaves, and droughts, to rain cause “havoc”, “heavy casualties”, “destruction” and “heavy economic and agricultural losses” across the continent.  

While floods in Asia in 2024 were among the most severe precipitation-related events recorded since 1949, 4.8 million people were affected by drought in China in 2024, Myanmar set a new temperature record of 48.2ºC, and the Urumqi Glacier No.1 in China’s Eastern Tian Shan recorded most negative mass balance since records began in 1959, among other calamities.   

In the HKH region, 23 out of 24 High Mountain Asia glaciers show continued mass loss. Reduced winter snowfall and extreme summer heat intensified losses in most of Nepal, Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) in China and Sikkim in India, among other high-altitude areas in the central Himalayas.  

The WMO report finds a belt of below-average snow cover extent (SCE) from western to eastern parts of Asia, with negative SCE anomalies dominating the central and the middle Himalayas in 2024. In tandem, ICIMOD’s 2025 HKH Snow Update, finds November 2024 – March 2025 to be the vicennial-record-low snow season in the HKH with a snow persistence of -23.6%, besides being the third consecutive year of negative snow anomaly in the region. Persisting and alarming extents of anomalies are observed in river basins like Mekong (-51.9%), Brahmaputra (-27.9%), Yangtze (-26.3%), Ganges (-24.1%), Amu Darya (-18.8%), Indus (-16.0%), where seasonal snow melts are crucial for agriculture, hydropower generation and other critical ecosystem services.  

Sher Muhammad, Remote Sensing Specialist at ICIMOD says, “These observations largely coincide with what is being seen across the HKH region as well. Seasonal snowmelt contributes approximately 25 % of annual river flows on average across the HKH, rising even higher in western basins—yet continual snow deficits are eroding this critical source, triggering early-summer water shortages, heat stress, and worry among downstream communities.”  

This is worrying news for countries like China and Afghanistan, already exposed to long-term water stress and droughts conditions.  According to the WMO report, in 2024 Western and south-western Afghanistan saw more frequent sand and dust storms than average, possibly linked to long-term drought conditions. On the other hand, the Yunnan and southern Sichuan Provinces in China experienced both winter and spring droughts, while in August 2024, drought intensified in Sichuan, the Yangtze River, and Chongqing – leading to economic losses of 2.89 billion Yuan. Persistently below-normal precipitation being a key driver of these droughts.   

While WMO reports considerable variation in precipitation anomalies in 2024 - Pakistan’s southwestern province of Balochistan and Myanmar’s Irrawaddy delta experiencing above-normal rainfall vis-à-vis China’s Altyn-Tagh and Kunlun Mountains between the Tibetan Plateau and the Tarim Basin, along with Pakistan’s western Himalayas and Afghanistan’s Hindu Kush mountains recording below-normal precipitations – ICIMOD’s 2025 Monsoon Outlook predicts a  wetter and hotter summer monsoon between June and September 2025 for most of the HKH countries, with the 2024 hotspots of rainfall anomalies, as identified in the WMO report, remaining unchanged.  

Nepal, for instance, that saw incidents of mudslides, waterlogging and sedimentation, and faced significant damages and economic losses due to excess rainfall in 2024, is again likely to receive above-average rainfall this year, along with India, China’s TAR and most of Pakistan (a country also imperiled by precipitation-induced floods in 2024).  On the other hand, among countries / areas predicted to experience below average rainfall is the already drought-affected Afghanistan with severe dryness likely to persist in its western parts.  

Simultaneously, the Monsoon Outlook predicts temperature anomalies in South Asia, including the HKH, to range between 0.5⁰ and 2⁰C above the long term-average, during June - September 2025. This prediction comes on the back of WMO’s report of frequent incidents of heatwave outbreaks across China, India and Myanmar in 2024, alongside sea-surface temperature rise in Asia at nearly double the global mean rate.  

With the findings from all these reports pointing to the ever-heightening propensity of climate extremes and catastrophes in the HKH region under the irreversible effects of accelerating climate change, anticipatory lifesaving and support actions are the need of the hour. Work of national meteorological and hydrological services and their partners is becoming “more important than ever”, states WMO Secretary General, Professor Celeste Saulo, in this context.  

According to Saswata Sanyal, Disaster Risk Reduction Lead, “The WMO report rightly emphasises the urgent need for anticipatory action in the face of escalating climate-induced disasters. This proactive approach is crucial for anticipating and mitigating disaster impacts before they fully unfold. ICIMOD recently joined the Intergovernmental Organizations' Cooperation on Anticipatory Action to further 'acting ahead of a predicted hazardous event to prevent or reduce impacts on lives and livelihoods and humanitarian needs' across HKH. This will directly empower communities to take necessary actions against the increasing threats of heavy rainfall, flash floods, and other water-related hazards in the region.”

Reminiscing the devastating impact of the 2024 monsoon floods on the communities from Kathmandu to the floodplains in Terai,  Neera Shrestha Pradhan, Cryosphere and Water Lead at ICIMOD, highlights ICIMOD’s proactive moves towards strengthening anticipatory  actions, “ICIMOD is contributing to the global EW4All initiative, aligning with its four pillars—ranging from investing in nature-based solutions to mitigating flood impacts, to ensuring localised and community-based responses. Recognising that early warning alone is not enough, ICIMOD is working to strengthen anticipatory early action and preparedness by fostering collaboration between communities and local governments. We are also working with partners to pilot gamification of training approaches — making learning more interactive, and impactful. These efforts aim to build lasting resilience in the face of increasing flood events and multi-hazard risks in our region.” 

WMO’s State of the Climate in Asia 2024 coincides with 2025 Bonn Climate Change Conference (SB62), a crucial mid-year meeting for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), from June 16 to June 26 in Bonn, Germany. This is a preparatory event for the upcoming COP30 in Belém, Brazil, with particular emphasis on adaptation and setting the agenda for COP30.  

Read the full press release here: https://www.icimod.org/press-release/state-of-the-climate-in-asia-2024-icimod-response-to-wmo-flagship-report/