‘Philippines third most heat-impacted country in Asia’

March 20, 2025 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines is the third most heat-impacted country in Asia, based on nonprofit Climate Central’s report.

Thirty-seven of 51 Asian countries experienced abnormal warming, averaging 0.6 degrees Celsius above historical norms, researchers noted.

“The Philippines is ranked as the third highest country in Asia with the most unusual heat added by climate change,” the report said.

“The Philippines is ranked as the eighth highest country in Asia with risky heat days added by climate change, with two additional days,” it said.

Risky heat days occur when temperatures become hotter than 90 percent of local temperatures recorded from 1991 to 2020, as defined in the study.

Almost 394 million people experienced over 30 extra days of life-threatening heat due to climate change, the study conducted from December 2024 to February this year showed.

Climate change is intensifying the extreme heat exposure of people worldwide, with severe consequences to health, economies and ecosystems, the report noted.

At least one in five people globally were exposed to higher temperatures influenced by climate change every day, it added.

“The increasing frequency and severity of heat events reveal a dangerous pattern of exposure that will only worsen if fossil fuel burning continues,” said Climate Central vice president of science Kristina Dahl.

Meanwhile, the World Meteorological Organization’s State of the Climate Report has confirmed that 2024 was the hottest year on record and first to exceed 1.5 percent above pre-industrial levels.

The average annual global temperature in 2024 was 1.55 degrees Celsius above the 1850 to 1900 average, the hottest year in recorded history, the reported noted.

“This beats the previous record set just a year before in 2023 of 1.45 degrees Celsius above the 1850 to 1900 average,” it said.

All of the hottest 10 years on record occurred in the past ten years, from 2015 to 2024, the report said.

“The oceans were hotter in 2024 than in any year on record. Over the past eight years, each year has set a new record for ocean heat content,” it said.

“Sea levels reached a record high in 2024. In the last three years – 2022 to 2024 – there was the largest glacier loss on record. Extreme weather events in 2024 led to the highest number of new displaced people since 2008 with 824,500 people,” it added.

At least 151 unprecedented extreme weather events were recorded in 2024, the report noted.