Asia was hit by a year of extreme weather in 2025, with deadly heatwaves, catastrophic floods and crippling drought, leaving behind broken livelihoods and rising economic losses. A new report from the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) warns that a rapidly warming climate is making these disasters worse, highlighting the urgent need for better early warning systems and preparedness.

The WMO State of the Climate in Asia 2025 report said that ocean heat has been increasing since the 1990s and has broken a record. Marine heatwaves affected almost the entire Asian ocean area (>10 million km²), larger than the land area of China or the US.

Warming and acidification of the ocean will create increasing threats to marine ecosystems and coastal communities, it added.

All 23 monitored glaciers across Asia lost mass due to above-average temperatures and below-average winter snow. The implications of this are a threat to long-term water security in the region and an increase in hazards, with several glacial lake outburst floods and glacier collapses being recorded in 2025.

Rapid warming

Since the latter half of the twentieth century, there has been a warming trend over Asia. The continent has experienced a faster rate of warming than the global land-and-ocean average during 1991–2025, and the rate of warming has been nearly twice as fast as during 1961–1990.

The annual mean temperature across Asia in 2025 was 0.96°C ± 0.08 above the 1991–2020 average, ranking between the second and fourth warmest years on record, depending on the dataset used.

In Kazakhstan, temperatures were up to 14°C above normal in March, April, June and July. Bahrain recorded ten consecutive days of 40°C+. Hot, dry and windy conditions fed major wildfires, including the largest known wildfires on record in the Republic of Korea.

Extreme heat was a defining feature, with Japan, the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of Korea all reporting their hottest summer on record.

Exceptional monsoon and tropical cyclone-related rainfall caused devastating floods in many countries, including Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Vietnam. Parts of West Asia, including Iran, continued to suffer from drought and severe sand and dust storms.

“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. This report highlights the importance of observations, early warning systems and impact-based forecasting to adapt to our changing climate,” said WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo.

Rainfall impact

The report highlighted the significant impact of too much or too little rainfall.

In Pakistan, over 1,000 people were killed and more than 3 million displaced due to monsoon rains.

Parts of Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia experienced flooding due to Cyclone Senyar.

In contrast, West and Central Asia experienced below-average precipitation and extended dry conditions. In Iran, water shortages were caused by long-term drought conditions.

Glacier Retreat

Glacier melting affects sea level, regional water cycles and the occurrence of local hazards, such as glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs).

The High Mountain Asia region, centred on the Tibetan Plateau, contains the largest volume of ice outside the polar regions, with glaciers extending over an area of approximately 100,000 km². Most glaciers in this region have undergone sustained retreat over the past several decades, accelerating since the mid-1990s.

The large mass loss from most glaciers in the Tianshan and Pamir Mountains was associated with low winter snow accumulation and continued above-average temperatures from May to September. Near-record amounts of ice have been lost from Urumqi Glacier No. 1 in the eastern Tianshan Mountains in 2024.

Rising seas

Ocean heat content in the Asia region has increased since the 1990s and reached a new record in 2025.

The sea level in the Asia region also hit the highest level since satellite records started in 1999. From 1999 to 2025, the rate of sea-level rise along much of the northern Indian Ocean coast was above the global average of about 3.6 mm per year, reaching about 4.9 mm per year along the Indian coast and more than 6 mm per year in the Kuroshio Current region.

Surface ocean pH continued its long-term decline. Record low pH values were observed in parts of the Arabian Sea, the Bay of Bengal and the tropical Indian Ocean.

The report also noted significant changes in the Caspian Sea, the world’s largest inland body of water.

In 2025, the average water level in Kazakhstan decreased by 0.23 metres compared to 2024, continuing a long-term downward trend, as a result of increased evaporation. The decline coincided with large hot anomalies, with 2025 being one of the five warmest years ever recorded around the Caspian Sea since 1976, the report said.

Published on June 17, 2026