World Meteorological Organization

Asia was the world's most disaster-hit region from climate and weather hazards in 2023, the United Nations said Tuesday, with floods and storms the chief cause of casualties and economic losses.

Global temperatures hit record highs last year, and the U.N.'s weather and climate agency said Asia was warming at a particularly rapid pace.

Europe is increasingly facing bouts of heat so intense that the human body cannot cope, as climate change continues to raise temperatures, the EU's Copernicus climate monitoring service and the World Meteorological Organization said on Monday.

It has already caused a "deafening cacophony" and temperature records, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) announced today, according to Reuters.
"We are living and going through a climate collapse in real time," said United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres at the opening of the COP28 summit in Dubai, the Guardian reported.

The El Nino weather phenomenon is just warming up, potentially paving the way for higher temperatures and extreme weather events in a year that has already seen plenty of both.

The first El Nino in years began last month, according to the World Meteorological Organization.

The heatwave scorching much of Northern Hemisphere is putting human lives on the line and threatening power grids. Climate change is exacerbating weather extremes, making heatwaves more frequent and more severe worldwide. Recently, scientists have associated persistent heatwaves in the Northern Hemisphere with a northward displacement of the jet stream.

With the entire globe witnessing the "highest temperatures in 120,000 years" as a result of El Nino, an expert has warned that Türkiye will continue to experience record-breaking temperatures, indicating that the following year will be significantly warmer.

That is causing problems for countries around the world and prompting them to urgently address climate change, which scientists say will make heat waves more frequent, more severe and more deadly, according to Reuters.

The heatwave engulfing the northern hemisphere, including Greece, is set to intensify this week, causing overnight temperatures to surge and leading to an increased risk of heart attacks and deaths, the World Meteorological Organization said on Tuesday.

More temperature records were expected to tumble on Tuesday as Europe awaited the peak of a punishing heatwave and wildfires scorched swathes of the Northern Hemisphere, forcing the evacuation of 1,200 children close to a Greek seaside resort.

The World Meteorological Organization said on Monday that a heatwave affecting the Mediterranean is forecast to intensify by mid-week and is likely to continue into August in some places.

New records have already been set for specific weather stations in parts of the northern hemisphere and new national records may also be set, the UN agency's website said.