12-06-2025
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
