Asia worst hit by disasters in 2023: WMO

Published
24th Apr, 2024

Context

In the year 2023, Asia faced the most disasters in the world as 79 events associated with extreme weather, climate, and water-related hazards, affecting over nine million people in the region and claiming over 2,000 lives, as per a new report by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

Key-highlights of the Report (Climate Disaster Profile)

Report Title: State of the Climate in Asia 2023
Asia has warmed faster than the global average and the warming trend has nearly doubled since the 1961-1990 period.
Key climate change indicators such as surface temperatures, glacier retreat and sea level rise will have major consequences for Asia, its economy and ecosystems.
In India alone, severe heatwaves in April and June resulted in about 110 reported fatalities due to heatstroke.
In August 2023, India experienced a record-high monthly mean temperature and exceptional rainfall deficit, which can be linked to El Niño
Floods were the leading cause of death in reported events in 2023 by a substantial margin.

1: Dimension- Significance of the Report

The report sheds light on the alarming frequency and severity of climate-related disasters in Asia, emphasizing the urgent need for proactive disaster management strategies.

Urgent Call to Action: The findings underscore the pressing need for concerted efforts to mitigate the impacts of climate change and enhance resilience to extreme weather events in Asia.
Strengthening Disaster Management: Effective disaster management strategies, including early warning systems, infrastructure resilience, and community preparedness, are imperative to minimize the loss of life and property during disasters.
Regional Collaboration: Given the transboundary nature of climate-related disasters, regional cooperation and information sharing are essential for fostering a collective response to the climate crisis.

2: Dimension- Disaster Management in India:

Disaster Risk Management implies the systematic process of using administrative decisions, organisation, operational skills, and capacities to implement policies, strategies and coping capacities of the societyand communities to lessen the impact of natural hazards and related environmental and technological disasters.
Disaster risk reduction aims to reduce disaster risks through systematic efforts to analyse and reduce the causal factors of disasters.
- Pre-Disaster risk reduction includes-Mitigation and Preparedness
- Post-Disaster risk reduction includes-Rescue, Relief and Recovery

3: Dimension- Required Steps/Initiatives

Increase the coverage of early warning systems
Climate proofing infrastructure
Invest in disaster risk reduction
Building climate and disaster resilience at the sub-national level
Integrating possible climate change impacts into the 2005 Disaster Management Actand other existing national frameworks and SOPs.

Fact Box: Recent Initiatives

Working group on DRR: The world’s major economies—as part of the G20—now have a working group on disaster risk reduction (DRR) for the first time. It has five priority areas: early warning systems, climate resilient infrastructure, financing framework for disaster risk reduction, disaster response systems, and an ecosystem-based approach to risk reduction.
Early Warnings for All initiative: It aims to ensure everyone on Earth is protected from hazardous weather, water, or climate events through life-saving early warning systems by the end of 2027.
Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure: Launched in 2019, CDRI is now a global coalition of 39 countries and seven organisations.
Aapda Mitra Scheme: Aapda Mitra is a centrally-sponsored scheme by the NDMA aiming to impart training to community volunteers in disaster response in the most affected districts identified across the country on the basis of past disasters.