Staff Correspondent

The South Asian Climate Change Journalists Forum has expressed deep concern over a series of reports exposing drastic climate change in the world as a whole and in South Asia in particular.

A new report from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) shows that records were once again broken, and in some cases smashed, for greenhouse gas levels, surface temperatures, ocean heat and acidification, sea level rise, Antarctic Sea ice cover and glacier retreat. South Asia has the highest mountain range and is flanked by ocean making it one of the worst affected by any climate change be it sea level rise or glacier melting.

The WMO report has already confirmed that 2023 was the warmest year on record, with the global average near-surface temperature at 1.45 °Celsius (with a margin of uncertainty of ± 0.12 °C) above the pre-industrial baseline.

It was the warmest ten-year period on record. On top of this gloomy scenario according to the 2023 World Air Quality Report, three most populated countries Bangladesh, India and Pakistan have the most polluted air quality in South Asia.

The other five Nepalis are in 8th position as most polluted while records for Afghanistan are difficult to monitor in view of the prevailing situation. Bhutan, Maldives, Sri Lanka are also not in a good position. Air quality in all these countries is far below the WHO guidelines. The current population of Southern Asia is 2,043,038,110 based on the latest United Nations estimates.

This is equivalent to 25.2% of the total world population. Any impact due to climate change, whether increase in warming or worsening of air quality will affect the maximum number of people in the region which is economically not well off. The SACCJF demands that the United Nations should now intervene at international level to arrest the dangerous trend. This will save millions of people from death and miseries.