From India to Australia to Japan, the Asia-Pacific region recorded a series of temperature records this summer, matching those in other parts of the world and representing a new tangible sign of climate change on Earth.
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India, most recently the world’s most populous country, experienced its hottest and driest August since records began more than a century ago, the Indian Meteorological Department said on Friday.
“The average and maximum temperatures in August 2023 were the highest since 1901,” the Indian agency (IMD) said, attributing this record mainly to “a rainfall deficit and a weak monsoon.”
The month of August falls in the middle of the monsoon season in India, which typically accounts for 80% of the country’s annual rainfall each year.
This year’s monsoon caused deadly floods in parts of the country’s north but brought much less rain overall, contributing to the country’s record temperatures.
Average rainfall fell to 161.7 millimeters in August, 30.1 less than the previous lowest level in 2005, according to IMD data.
Summer rains are crucial for food security in India, where millions of farmers rely on the monsoon to ensure the profitability of their crops.
Japan also experienced the hottest average temperatures ever recorded in the archipelago between June and August since comparable statistics were introduced in 1898, the country’s weather agency said on Friday.
Warmest Australian winter
“The average temperature anomaly in Japan, based on observations at 15 different locations, was +1.76°C, far exceeding the 2010 temperature (+1.08°C), which was the highest since records began in 1898 was.” Agency added.
“Compared to years with particularly high average summer temperatures (2010, 2013, 2018 and 2022), the number of extremely hot days increased significantly from the end of July and reached the highest value since 2010,” emphasizes the press release.
Japan had already recorded the highest average temperatures ever recorded in July. More than 35,700 people were hospitalized nationwide in July and 39 died of heat stroke, according to Japan’s Fire and Disaster Management Agency.
After Monaco, Japan has the oldest population in the world: 30% of the population is 65 years and older. And in the last five years, more than 80% of deaths from heat stroke in the country have involved elderly people.
Finally, Australia’s winter was the warmest on record, according to the country’s Bureau of Meteorology. Simon Grainger, senior climatologist, told AFP that the average winter temperature in Australia from June to August was 16.75 degrees Celsius, a hair above the previous record set in 1996.
Australian researchers have repeatedly warned that climate change is increasing the risk of natural disasters such as bushfires, floods and hurricanes.
These temperature records are in addition to those observed in many other countries this summer, and although the month of July was the hottest ever recorded on Earth, according to the European Copernicus service.
They are reported as super typhoon Saola approaches the Chinese coast. It could be “the most powerful” to land in the Hong Kong region in more than 70 years, threatening tens of millions of residents in the megacities of Hong Kong and Shenzhen.
Climate change has increased the intensity of tropical storms, experts say, as more rain and stronger gusts lead to flash floods and coastal damage.