Latest news with #2024StateoftheClimate
GMA Network
12-06-2025
- Climate
- GMA Network
PH experienced record-breaking temperatures, 'more than double the average' cyclones from Sept. to Nov. 2024: WMO report
A fishpond owner walks on a dried fishpond in Laur, Nueva Ecija on Saturday, April 27, 2024, as extreme heat brought about by El Niño caused some owners to stop operations. The Department of Agriculture earlier said that damage from El Niño has reached around P3.34 billion. DANNY PATA The Philippines experienced extreme weather events — a result of human-induced climate change — all throughout 2024, a report by the World Meteorological Organization revealed. January and February saw extreme rain fall in eastern Mindanao, which caused significant flooding as well as contributed to a landslide which killed 93. Between February and May meanwhile, extreme heat affected the country. It seared the Philippines most significantly in April, when 19 cars caught fire at the NAIA parking lot due to a grass fire. A few days later, on April 27, a 38.8C temperature was observed at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, which also happens to be the highest temperature on record for a site in Metro Manila, the WMO report said. From July to October, meanwhile the Philippines was impacted by the strongest typhoon of the season in the north-west Pacific, which poured 727.8mm of rain in Basco, Batanes in just 24 hours. The WMO report noted the unprecedented parade of 6 typhoons that battered the Philippines in just four weeks between October to November. According to the WMO, the Philippines saw more than double the cyclones the usually visits the country in the months of September, October and November (SON). Where six cyclones usually occur in the Philippines in SON, 12 storms were recorded in SON last year. "Persistently high ocean heat content in the Philippine sea from mid-April 2024 created ideal conditions for tropical cyclone development," read WMO's 2024 State of the Climate in the South-west Pacific report. "Across the sequence, over 13 million people were impacted in 17 of the Philippines' 18 regions, with more than 1.4million displaced," the report added. "These ocean extremes are alarming indicators of the escalating climate crisis and underscore the Philippines' high vulnerability," said Dr. Charina Lyn Amedo-Repollo, Assistant Professor and Physical Oceanographer at the Marine Science Institute - University of the Philippines Diliman in a statement. "We urge the global community to commit to cut emissions fast and shift from fossil fuels to cleaner, renewable energy. Protecting the ocean must be at the heart of climate strategies, including expanding marine protected areas and restoring blue carbon ecosystems," she added. For congressman Edgar Chatto, chair of the House of Representatives committee on climate change, and author of the CLIMA Bill, 'This confirms what Filipinos are already living through—unbearable heat and a punishing parade of typhoons. These are not isolated events, but signs of a climate crisis accelerating before our eyes." "The Philippines is on the frontlines, and half-measures will no longer suffice. Locally, we must break away from our dependence on fossil fuels and invest in clean, resilient energy systems, strengthen local adaptation, and build climate-resilient systems. But we cannot do this alone—the world's biggest polluters must step up with the support and finance they owe to vulnerable countries like ours. The CLIMA Bill is a critical step toward a more coordinated, science-driven response. Delay is not an option—lives and futures are at stake," he added in a statement. In the report, the WMO noted the Philippines submitted its National Adaptation Plan in May 2024, where it said that "while the frequency of tropical cyclones is expected to decrease, their intensity will significantly increase. The occurrence of super typhoons is projected to rise." "The Government of the Philippines has successfully accessed the Green Climate fund for the first time, namely for the project Multi-hazard Impact-based Forecasting and Early Warning System for the Philippines," the WMO added. — GMA Integrated News
The Advertiser
05-06-2025
- Climate
- The Advertiser
'Deadly and destructive': Australia's nearest glaciers are about to vanish
Some time in 2026 the final icy remnants of one of the last tropical glaciers in the Asia Pacific will melt away, shrouded in clouds, above West Papua. In a little over two years the total ice area on the Sudirman Range north of Australia - home to the highest island peak in the world - shrank by up to 50 per cent. "If this rate persists, total ice loss is expected in 2026 or very soon thereafter," the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) revealed in its 2024 State of the Climate in the South-West Pacific report. Released on June 5 - World Environment Day - the climate report card confirmed 2024 was the warmest on record for the region, punctuated by record-breaking rain, temperatures and marine heat waves. From Australia's hottest-ever summer temperature recorded at 49.9°C in Western Australia's Carnarvon to 315mm of rainfall over just four days in the Northern Territory, 2024 was a year of extremes. It was also the first year to top the critical 1.5 degrees of warming above pre-industrial levels, though an individual year with that temperature rise is not alone enough to declare Earth has passed the threshold. "It's absolutely true that we're already starting to see individual years with global temperatures more than 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial [levels]; 2024 was likely the first of those," one of the report's lead authors, Dr Blair Trewin, said. "It's clear that we're getting quite close to warming at that 1.5 degree level," he said. "At current warming trends that level will be reached within the next five to 10 years." WMO regional director Ben Churchill said this was because a warmer atmosphere held more moisture. "For every one degree of warming in the atmosphere the atmosphere can hold an extra seven per cent of moisture," he said. "And so we're seeing these extreme situations both in terms of rainfall, but also on the other end of the scale - we're seeing extreme drought." The report identified the southern coast of Australia as particularly hard hit by low rainfall. "Global warming is actually changing the water cycle quite significantly," Mr Churchill said. But unprecedented marine heatwaves were also a feature of 2024, affecting nearly 40 million square kilometres of ocean - the largest area since 1993. Severe hotspots were recorded off Australia's east coast and southern parts of the Tasman Sea. "Averaged over the region as a whole, sea surface temperatures reached record highs in 2024 by a substantial margin," Dr Blair Trewin said. "That has significant implications for marine ecosystems and, in particular, corals which are very sensitive to excess heat were quite significantly stressed by the marine heat waves in various parts of the region." The World Heritage-listed Great Barrier Reef suffered widespread and severe coral bleaching in 2024. "We have seen some quite significant impacts of marine heatwaves on fisheries in Tasmania, for example," he said. Ocean warming helps sea levels rise and changes ocean currents, storm paths and marine ecosystems. And the sea is rising faster around Australia than in other parts of the world. "Sea level is rising, in general, faster in this region over the last 30 years [than] the global average," Dr Trewin said. "That increase in sea level has been reflected by an increase in the frequency of coastal flooding and inundation." Warming temperatures were also affecting Australia's snow seasons, which were ending earlier than in the past. Spencers Creek near Perisher Valley in NSW reached a peak depth of 1.23 metres in late July 2024 - 35 per cent below average. WMO regional director Ben Churchill said the latest climate snapshot was another wake up call. "We keep talking about things that we've never seen before, and this just continues that trend," he said. "Widespread extreme rainfall and flooding caused deadly and destructive impacts in Australia, New Zealand, and also countries in the Pacific, and also in south-east Asia," Mr Churchill said. "This has been driven by carbon emissions which are continuing unabated, so this is a message for stronger climate action, not just in this region, but globally. "It's an alarming report, but it is really - again - a wake-up call for stronger climate action." The World Meteorological Organisation is the United Nations' agency for weather, climate and water. Got something to say? Leave a comment below or email the journalist on Some time in 2026 the final icy remnants of one of the last tropical glaciers in the Asia Pacific will melt away, shrouded in clouds, above West Papua. In a little over two years the total ice area on the Sudirman Range north of Australia - home to the highest island peak in the world - shrank by up to 50 per cent. "If this rate persists, total ice loss is expected in 2026 or very soon thereafter," the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) revealed in its 2024 State of the Climate in the South-West Pacific report. Released on June 5 - World Environment Day - the climate report card confirmed 2024 was the warmest on record for the region, punctuated by record-breaking rain, temperatures and marine heat waves. From Australia's hottest-ever summer temperature recorded at 49.9°C in Western Australia's Carnarvon to 315mm of rainfall over just four days in the Northern Territory, 2024 was a year of extremes. It was also the first year to top the critical 1.5 degrees of warming above pre-industrial levels, though an individual year with that temperature rise is not alone enough to declare Earth has passed the threshold. "It's absolutely true that we're already starting to see individual years with global temperatures more than 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial [levels]; 2024 was likely the first of those," one of the report's lead authors, Dr Blair Trewin, said. "It's clear that we're getting quite close to warming at that 1.5 degree level," he said. "At current warming trends that level will be reached within the next five to 10 years." WMO regional director Ben Churchill said this was because a warmer atmosphere held more moisture. "For every one degree of warming in the atmosphere the atmosphere can hold an extra seven per cent of moisture," he said. "And so we're seeing these extreme situations both in terms of rainfall, but also on the other end of the scale - we're seeing extreme drought." The report identified the southern coast of Australia as particularly hard hit by low rainfall. "Global warming is actually changing the water cycle quite significantly," Mr Churchill said. But unprecedented marine heatwaves were also a feature of 2024, affecting nearly 40 million square kilometres of ocean - the largest area since 1993. Severe hotspots were recorded off Australia's east coast and southern parts of the Tasman Sea. "Averaged over the region as a whole, sea surface temperatures reached record highs in 2024 by a substantial margin," Dr Blair Trewin said. "That has significant implications for marine ecosystems and, in particular, corals which are very sensitive to excess heat were quite significantly stressed by the marine heat waves in various parts of the region." The World Heritage-listed Great Barrier Reef suffered widespread and severe coral bleaching in 2024. "We have seen some quite significant impacts of marine heatwaves on fisheries in Tasmania, for example," he said. Ocean warming helps sea levels rise and changes ocean currents, storm paths and marine ecosystems. And the sea is rising faster around Australia than in other parts of the world. "Sea level is rising, in general, faster in this region over the last 30 years [than] the global average," Dr Trewin said. "That increase in sea level has been reflected by an increase in the frequency of coastal flooding and inundation." Warming temperatures were also affecting Australia's snow seasons, which were ending earlier than in the past. Spencers Creek near Perisher Valley in NSW reached a peak depth of 1.23 metres in late July 2024 - 35 per cent below average. WMO regional director Ben Churchill said the latest climate snapshot was another wake up call. "We keep talking about things that we've never seen before, and this just continues that trend," he said. "Widespread extreme rainfall and flooding caused deadly and destructive impacts in Australia, New Zealand, and also countries in the Pacific, and also in south-east Asia," Mr Churchill said. "This has been driven by carbon emissions which are continuing unabated, so this is a message for stronger climate action, not just in this region, but globally. "It's an alarming report, but it is really - again - a wake-up call for stronger climate action." The World Meteorological Organisation is the United Nations' agency for weather, climate and water. Got something to say? Leave a comment below or email the journalist on Some time in 2026 the final icy remnants of one of the last tropical glaciers in the Asia Pacific will melt away, shrouded in clouds, above West Papua. In a little over two years the total ice area on the Sudirman Range north of Australia - home to the highest island peak in the world - shrank by up to 50 per cent. "If this rate persists, total ice loss is expected in 2026 or very soon thereafter," the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) revealed in its 2024 State of the Climate in the South-West Pacific report. Released on June 5 - World Environment Day - the climate report card confirmed 2024 was the warmest on record for the region, punctuated by record-breaking rain, temperatures and marine heat waves. From Australia's hottest-ever summer temperature recorded at 49.9°C in Western Australia's Carnarvon to 315mm of rainfall over just four days in the Northern Territory, 2024 was a year of extremes. It was also the first year to top the critical 1.5 degrees of warming above pre-industrial levels, though an individual year with that temperature rise is not alone enough to declare Earth has passed the threshold. "It's absolutely true that we're already starting to see individual years with global temperatures more than 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial [levels]; 2024 was likely the first of those," one of the report's lead authors, Dr Blair Trewin, said. "It's clear that we're getting quite close to warming at that 1.5 degree level," he said. "At current warming trends that level will be reached within the next five to 10 years." WMO regional director Ben Churchill said this was because a warmer atmosphere held more moisture. "For every one degree of warming in the atmosphere the atmosphere can hold an extra seven per cent of moisture," he said. "And so we're seeing these extreme situations both in terms of rainfall, but also on the other end of the scale - we're seeing extreme drought." The report identified the southern coast of Australia as particularly hard hit by low rainfall. "Global warming is actually changing the water cycle quite significantly," Mr Churchill said. But unprecedented marine heatwaves were also a feature of 2024, affecting nearly 40 million square kilometres of ocean - the largest area since 1993. Severe hotspots were recorded off Australia's east coast and southern parts of the Tasman Sea. "Averaged over the region as a whole, sea surface temperatures reached record highs in 2024 by a substantial margin," Dr Blair Trewin said. "That has significant implications for marine ecosystems and, in particular, corals which are very sensitive to excess heat were quite significantly stressed by the marine heat waves in various parts of the region." The World Heritage-listed Great Barrier Reef suffered widespread and severe coral bleaching in 2024. "We have seen some quite significant impacts of marine heatwaves on fisheries in Tasmania, for example," he said. Ocean warming helps sea levels rise and changes ocean currents, storm paths and marine ecosystems. And the sea is rising faster around Australia than in other parts of the world. "Sea level is rising, in general, faster in this region over the last 30 years [than] the global average," Dr Trewin said. "That increase in sea level has been reflected by an increase in the frequency of coastal flooding and inundation." Warming temperatures were also affecting Australia's snow seasons, which were ending earlier than in the past. Spencers Creek near Perisher Valley in NSW reached a peak depth of 1.23 metres in late July 2024 - 35 per cent below average. WMO regional director Ben Churchill said the latest climate snapshot was another wake up call. "We keep talking about things that we've never seen before, and this just continues that trend," he said. "Widespread extreme rainfall and flooding caused deadly and destructive impacts in Australia, New Zealand, and also countries in the Pacific, and also in south-east Asia," Mr Churchill said. "This has been driven by carbon emissions which are continuing unabated, so this is a message for stronger climate action, not just in this region, but globally. "It's an alarming report, but it is really - again - a wake-up call for stronger climate action." The World Meteorological Organisation is the United Nations' agency for weather, climate and water. Got something to say? Leave a comment below or email the journalist on Some time in 2026 the final icy remnants of one of the last tropical glaciers in the Asia Pacific will melt away, shrouded in clouds, above West Papua. In a little over two years the total ice area on the Sudirman Range north of Australia - home to the highest island peak in the world - shrank by up to 50 per cent. "If this rate persists, total ice loss is expected in 2026 or very soon thereafter," the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) revealed in its 2024 State of the Climate in the South-West Pacific report. Released on June 5 - World Environment Day - the climate report card confirmed 2024 was the warmest on record for the region, punctuated by record-breaking rain, temperatures and marine heat waves. From Australia's hottest-ever summer temperature recorded at 49.9°C in Western Australia's Carnarvon to 315mm of rainfall over just four days in the Northern Territory, 2024 was a year of extremes. It was also the first year to top the critical 1.5 degrees of warming above pre-industrial levels, though an individual year with that temperature rise is not alone enough to declare Earth has passed the threshold. "It's absolutely true that we're already starting to see individual years with global temperatures more than 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial [levels]; 2024 was likely the first of those," one of the report's lead authors, Dr Blair Trewin, said. "It's clear that we're getting quite close to warming at that 1.5 degree level," he said. "At current warming trends that level will be reached within the next five to 10 years." WMO regional director Ben Churchill said this was because a warmer atmosphere held more moisture. "For every one degree of warming in the atmosphere the atmosphere can hold an extra seven per cent of moisture," he said. "And so we're seeing these extreme situations both in terms of rainfall, but also on the other end of the scale - we're seeing extreme drought." The report identified the southern coast of Australia as particularly hard hit by low rainfall. "Global warming is actually changing the water cycle quite significantly," Mr Churchill said. But unprecedented marine heatwaves were also a feature of 2024, affecting nearly 40 million square kilometres of ocean - the largest area since 1993. Severe hotspots were recorded off Australia's east coast and southern parts of the Tasman Sea. "Averaged over the region as a whole, sea surface temperatures reached record highs in 2024 by a substantial margin," Dr Blair Trewin said. "That has significant implications for marine ecosystems and, in particular, corals which are very sensitive to excess heat were quite significantly stressed by the marine heat waves in various parts of the region." The World Heritage-listed Great Barrier Reef suffered widespread and severe coral bleaching in 2024. "We have seen some quite significant impacts of marine heatwaves on fisheries in Tasmania, for example," he said. Ocean warming helps sea levels rise and changes ocean currents, storm paths and marine ecosystems. And the sea is rising faster around Australia than in other parts of the world. "Sea level is rising, in general, faster in this region over the last 30 years [than] the global average," Dr Trewin said. "That increase in sea level has been reflected by an increase in the frequency of coastal flooding and inundation." Warming temperatures were also affecting Australia's snow seasons, which were ending earlier than in the past. Spencers Creek near Perisher Valley in NSW reached a peak depth of 1.23 metres in late July 2024 - 35 per cent below average. WMO regional director Ben Churchill said the latest climate snapshot was another wake up call. "We keep talking about things that we've never seen before, and this just continues that trend," he said. "Widespread extreme rainfall and flooding caused deadly and destructive impacts in Australia, New Zealand, and also countries in the Pacific, and also in south-east Asia," Mr Churchill said. "This has been driven by carbon emissions which are continuing unabated, so this is a message for stronger climate action, not just in this region, but globally. "It's an alarming report, but it is really - again - a wake-up call for stronger climate action." The World Meteorological Organisation is the United Nations' agency for weather, climate and water. Got something to say? Leave a comment below or email the journalist on
