The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) which is the UN System’s authoritative voice on Weather, Climate and Water, released its Asia Climate Report for 2025 on 17 June 2026. According to this rather grim report, Asia is in for some rocky times.
The main findings were extremely high heat, devastating uneven rainfall causing floods and severe droughts accompanied by dusty storms which expanded the area prone to desertification. And of course, rapidly melting glaciers.
According to the WMO report “Asia is impacted by rising temperatures, warming ocean waters, higher sea levels and retreating glaciers. Heavy rainfall, flooding and drought have a heavy economic and human cost, while extreme heat, dust storms and glacial flooding are
becoming major hazards.”
Exceptional monsoon and tropical cyclone-related rainfall caused devastating flooding in many countries, including Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Vietnam. Climate turbulence, predicted as one of the markers of climate change is to be seen clearly in the Asian region .The report highlights the impact of both too much and too little rainfall. Most parts of Asia received above-average rains in 2025, with exceptionally heavy monsoons. In Pakistan it was 23% above the long-term average. The flooding caused over 1,000 deaths mostly in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province where more than 230,000 houses were destroyed and over 3 million people impacted severely.
Severe flash floods caused significant damage in North India and Nepal and 142 lightening deaths were reported during the storms with furious thunder and lightening. There were devastating floods in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh too which caused plenty of damage to homes. In Viet Nam, multiple episodes of flooding resulted in at least 200 deaths and about 2 billion US$ in economic losses. Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia suffered very heavy rainfall and severe flooding due to Cyclone Senyar.
On the other hand, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan in Central Asia as well as the countries of West Asia saw scanty rainfall and protracted dry conditions. There was a long drawn out drought in Iran as well which triggered severe water shortages and prolonged, harsh dust storms.
With respect to temperatures, Asia has warmed faster than the global average in recent decades. The warming trend during 1991–2025 was approximately twice that observed during 1961–1990. The annual mean temperature in 2025 was found to be almost 1 degree C above the 1991–2020 average, indicating a steady rise in global warming.
China, Japan and South Korea suffered extreme heat conditions. All three recorded their highest ever summer temperatures. South Korea experienced such intense heat and the soil temperatures rose so high that the potato crop actually “cooked” in the ground. The harvest was ruined because the potatoes had turned soft and mushy.
Kazakhstan in Central Asia witnessed unprecedented heatwave conditions during which the temperatures soared, reaching up to 14°C above normal and Bahrain recorded ten consecutive days of above 40°C temperatures. Wild fires due to hot and dry winds raged through South Korea from March to May 2025. The 20 separate blazes ended up killing some 32 people.
Asia is warming twice as fast as the global average, driving record-breaking water temperature increase across the continents oceans and seas. The amount of heat stored in oceans in Asia has reached the highest level so far. Ocean temperatures have been increasing steadily for the last 35 years, hitting a new record in 2025. Sea level rise in the Asian region has also reached its highest level after the same 35 year period. Nearly all regional waters—including the Indian Ocean, Western Pacific, and Caspian Sea experienced severe marine heatwaves affecting over 10 million square kilometers.
The rates of sea-level rise in the Indian Ocean were much higher than the global average as registered along the Indian coast. Rising ocean heat is destabilizing ocean currents and marine life and driving up sea levels. Worryingly, the ocean water is becoming more acidic specially in parts of the Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal and the tropical part of the Indian Ocean. This has obvious repercussions for the safety and survival of marine life. Sea level rise is not unconnected to the fact that glaciers in Asia are melting rapidly. The catastrophe in Nepal in late August of 2026 was a horrific reminder of glacier melt but the steady meting of glacial ice has been happening over the years as seen in so many Asian glaciers receding.
After the North and South Poles, it is mountainous Asia, with the Tibetan Plateau at its core, that holds the largest ice volume in the world. The glaciers here spread over approximately 100,000 sq km have been in steady retreat since the 1990s. Higher than usual temperatures and diminished winter snowfall have driven the spiralling glacial melt. According to the 2025 United Nations report, glaciers in the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) region are projected to lose 30% to 50% of their volume by 2100 if emissions are low and up to 80% if current high-emission trajectories continue.
Glaciers in the eastern and central Himalayas, such as Nepal and Bhutan, are shrinking much faster than those in the west due to higher warming and decreasing snowfall. All in all, a fairly grim picture.
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