UN: Asia Hit by Record Heat, Floods & Sea Levels in 2025

UN: Asia HitsHit by Record Heat, Floods & Sea Levels in 2025

Published 2 days ago

UN: Asia Hit by Record Heat, Floods & Sea Levels in 2025

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Above: Boys play in the water of a stepwell to beat the summer heat near Jal Mahal in Jaipur, India, on June 14, 2026. Image credit: Vishal Bhatnagar/NurPhoto/Getty Images

The Spin

Asia's climate crisis is accelerating at a terrifying pace — every single monitored glacier in High Mountain Asia lost mass, ocean heat hit record levels, and marine heatwaves covered over 10 million km² in a single season. Japan, China and South Korea all logged their hottest summers ever, while Pakistan's flooding killed over 1,000 people. The data is undeniable: warming is outpacing preparedness across the entire region.

Guardian

Annette J Beveridge on X

Dr. Abdulla Al Mandous on X

Alarm over Asia's heat and sea levels ignores the fact that El Niño is a natural, ancient cycle of oceanicocean heat redistribution — not a climate catastrophe. Seas have been rising since glaciers melted 12,000 years ago, and current rates are a modest 8-9 inches per century. Treating routine natural variability as an unprecedented crisis fuels needless panic rather than sound, evidence-based policy.

Peter Clack on X Watts Up With That?

Metaculus Prediction

There's a 50% chance that any official weather station in India will record air temperatures of at least 55.0°C (131.0°F) for three or more consecutive days before Jan. 1, 2050, according to the Metaculus prediction community.