Since the beginning of the week, Southern China faces “floods of the century” : the province of Guangdong, whose capital is Guangzhou, was placed in Red alert yesterday. 110,000 people have already been relocated, the region is at a standstill and torrential rain continue to flood entire areas even though they are already under water…
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This dramatic event occurs at a time when the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) reveals in a study that in 2023 Asia was the “most affected region” in the world by natural disasters linked to climate change. How to explain it and how to deal with it in the future?
Floods and storms: main scourges
According to the WMO, storms and floods caused the most casualties and economic losses in 2023. In total, last year, 79 disasters linked to hydrometeorological risks were recorded in Asia: more than 80% were floods and storms, with a death toll of more than 2,000 and nine million people directly affected.
On September 7, 2023, Hong Kong recorded 158.1 millimeters of rain in just one hour during a typhoon, a record not seen since records began in 1884! The cause of all this? Global warming, which has increased the frequency and severity of these extreme events : societies, economies and the environment are dramatically impacted.
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The challenge is simple for the coming years: produce more data to better prevent these extreme weather risks. The WMO insists on “the urgency of this time”with the primary and fundamental objective of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to slow down (at best) global warmingwhile 2023 was the hottest year on record worldwide.
Heat waves and glaciers: the other worry
Furthermore, another scourge, the impact of heat waves in Asia is becoming more and more severe, according to the WMO, notably between Western Siberia and Central Asia. In Japan, the summer of 2023 was the hottest on record.
In the Himalayas, but also in the mountains of Pakistan and Afghanistan, very low precipitation was also recorded. Not counting the historic drought experienced in southwest China all year round.
How to explain it? Quite simply because Asia is warming faster than the global average, already +2°C almost compared to 1961-1990 climate normals. In this region of the world, all indicators of climate change are on the rise: temperature and level of seas and oceans, or even retreat of glaciers.
Besides, this melting of glaciers, particularly in the Himalayas, threatens water security in the region. Outside of the polar regions, the largest volumes of ice on the planet are concentrated around the Tibetan plateau.
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In 2023, 20 of the 22 glaciers monitored by the WMO have retreated, at an accelerating rate. In Asia, the vicious and infernal circle of global warming is already well underway, and 2024 seems to be in the same vein…
