State of the Climate in Asia

Abstract

This report provides a snapshot of climate trends, observed high-impact events and associated risks and impacts on key sensitive sectors in Asia during the year 2020. The report highlights the major climate trends through universally agreed climate change indicators, addressing land and sea temperatures, glacial retreat, sea level rise, and decreasing sea-ice extent in addition to high impact events which affected the region during 2020. Currently, Asia is facing long-term warming trends higher than average. This contributes to accelerating trend in deglaciation in Asia\'s mountain ranges to date throughout the twenty-first century. Many parts of Regional Association II and the surrounding oceans experienced heat events in 2020. Temperatures reached 38.0 °C at Verkhoyansk on 20 June, provisionally the highest known temperature anywhere north of the Arctic Circle. Meanwhile, An unusual wet spell in East Asia and heavy rainfall in South Asia during the Asian summer monsoon season, combined with frequent tropical cyclone activities, brought floods, landslides and associated socioeconomic impacts to the affected regions.

The report notes that the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has complicated disaster management efforts and countries faced the dual challenge of tackling the pandemic and climate-related hazards. Supporting resilient recovery from the pandemic and the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development requires a better understanding of risks, investment in renewable energy and frontier technologies, health, environment, and social protection, and ensuring targeted and forward-looking fiscal spending. It is essential to adapt and build resilience to climate variability and change and to extreme climate events, especially in high-risk and low-capacity parts of the region. The Global Framework for Climate Services provides guidance on the implementation of operational systems and services needed to support adaptation and resilience development projects and programmes that respond to the priorities identified by Parties in their Nationally Determined Contributions to the Paris Agreement.