State of the climate in Asia 2020 Report

WHY IN THE NEWS?

UN’s World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) released its annual report titled “State of the climate in Asia” on October 25, 2021.

About:

• As per the report, in 2020, Asia suffered its hottest year on record.
• The report notes that extreme weather is taking a heavy toll on the development of the continent.
• In 2020, Extreme weather and climate change in Asia has resulted in the loss of life of thousands of people, cost billions of dollars, displaced millions of others, and wreaked a heavy toll on infrastructure & ecosystems.
• As per the report, sustainable development is threatened because health risks, food & water insecurity, and environmental degradation is increasing.
• Increased heat and humidity are forecasts will also lead to an effective loss of outdoor working hours in Asia.
• Several kinds of weather and climate-related displacements across Asia are prolonged. People are unable to return home or integrate locally.
• In 2020 floods and storms affected around 50 million people in Asia, causing about 5,000 fatalities.

Total average losses across countries

• China suffered an estimated loss of $238 billion, India suffered $87 billion, Japan suffered $83 billion while South Korea suffered $24 billion.
• Considering the size of economy, average annual losses are likely to be as high as 7.9 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) for Tajikistan, 5.8 percent for Laos and 5.9 percent for Cambodia.

Warmest Year in Asia

The warmest year on record in Asia, witnessed the mean temperature 1.39 degrees Celsius above as compared to 1981-2010 average. 38 degrees Celsius was recorded at Verkhoyansk in Russia, which is the highest known temperature in north of the Arctic Circle.