Extreme heat impacts millions of people by World Meteorological Organization   Aug. 2025   Extreme heat is sometimes called the silent killer, but with today’s science, silence is no excuse. Between 2000 and 2019, approximately 489,000 heat-related deaths occurred each year, with 45 per cent of these in Asia and 36 per cent in Europe. Worldwide, the official diagnosis and reporting of heat-related illness, injuries and deaths are recognized to be under-reported.   Temperature records   July 2025 was the third-warmest July globally (after July 2023 and 2024), according to the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service. The average sea surface temperature was also the third highest on record. Arctic sea ice extent ranked joint second-lowest for July in the 47-year satellite record, virtually tied with 2012 and 2021.   Within Europe, heatwave conditions particularly affected Sweden and Finland, which experienced an unusually long spell of temperatures above 30 °C. Southeast Europe also faced heatwaves and wildfire activity, with a national record temperature of 50.5°C in Türkiye.   Outside Europe, temperatures were most above average across the Himalayas, China and Japan, according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service monthly bulletin.   The heat has continued into August. An update from the World Meteorological Centre Beijing on 5 August said that in the past week, maximum temperatures exceeded 42°C in parts of West Asia, southern Central Asia, most of North Africa, southern Pakistan, and the southwestern United States, with localized areas surpassing 45°C.   Maximum temperatures in southwestern Islamic Republic of Iran and eastern Iraq locally exceeded 50°C – causing disruptions to electricity and water supplies, education and labour. The National Meteorological Service of Morocco issued a heat warning for temperature between 40 and 47°C for the week of 4 August.   Japan reported a new national temperature record of 41.8 degrees Celsius (107.2 degrees Fahrenheit) on 5 August, beating the record of 41.2 °C set on 30 July. During the extended and extraordinary heatwave, many dozens of new station records – both maximum daytime and minimum overnight ones – were set. Japan’s Meteorological Agency issued special heat stroke alerts, urging the public to take precautionary measures.   The Korea Meteorological Administration has also issued widespread extreme heat warnings and advisories. Station temperature records also tumbled in parts of China.   The World Meteorological Centre Beijing said that in the next week, the heatwaves are expected to continue across most of West Asia, southern Central Asia, most of North Africa, the Iberian Peninsula, Pakistan, the southwestern United States, and northern Mexico. Localized temperatures could reach above 45°C in Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Syria, western and southern Iran, the southwestern United States, and parts of North Africa.   Wildfires   The extreme heat has fuelled devastating wildfires, causing casualties and worsening air quality.   Fire fighters in Cyprus, Greece and Türkiye struggled against wildfires, which forced people to flee their homes, claimed a number of lives, and filled the skies with thick plumes of smoke.   Smoke from hundreds of wildland fires burning in Canada created poor air quality across multiple provinces and northern U.S. states in late July and early August 2025. Air pollution affected areas of the Northwest Territories, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Ontario, as well as parts of the U.S. Upper Midwest and Northeast, according to NASA’s Earth Observatory.   Canada is facing one of its worst fire seasons on record in terms of area burned. As of August 3, more than 6.6 million hectares (16.3 million acres) had burned, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Center. That exceeds the 25-year average of about 2.2 million hectares.   For at least the second time this season, smoke from these blazes travelled across the Atlantic Ocean bound for Europe. Carried by a strong jet stream, it was expected to reach Western European skies between August 5 and 7. In mid-June 2025, another smoke plume from Canada degraded air quality and reddened skies in Central and Southern Europe.   “Extreme heat is no longer a distant or seasonal concern—it’s a daily reality for millions.” says Joy Shumake-Guillemot, lead of the WHO-WMO Climate and Health Joint Programme. “Climate change will continue to worsen extreme heat for years to come. This is not just a climate issue, it’s a public health emergency,” she said.   Devastating floods across Asia   China, India, Nepal, Pakistan, the Republic of Korea were among the countries affected in Asia, with hundreds of lives lost, whilst flash flooding in the US states of Texas and New Mexico also killed more than 100 people. In the latest disaster, more than 100 people were reported missing as a flash flood swept through a town in India’s Himalayan region.   “Flash floods are not new, but their frequency and intensity are increasing in many regions due to rapid urbanization, land-use change, and a changing climate. Rising temperatures play a role because each additional degree Celsius of temperature increase allows the atmosphere to hold about 7% more water vapor, according to the law of thermodynamics. This is increasing the risk of more extreme rainfall events. At the same time, glacier-related flood hazards are increasing due to enhanced ice melting in a warmer climate,” said Stefan Uhlenbrook, Director of Hydrology, Water and Cryosphere at WMO.   “Floods and flash floods pose major threats to lives and infrastructure, claiming thousands of lives each year,” said Hwirin Kim Chief of Hydrological Water Resources Services Division at WMO.   An update from the World Meteorological Centre Beijing on 5 August said that in the past week, northern India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam experienced heavy to very heavy rainfall, with localized areas exposed to extreme downpours. It warned of potential secondary disasters, including flooding, landslides, debris flows, and urban waterlogging.   China: In Beijing tens of thousands of people were evacuated because of the risk of flooding from exceptionally heavy rainfall on 4 and 5 August. More than 40 people were reportedly killed by floods in the Chinese capital at the end of July. Chinese authorities also activated emergency flood response mechanisms in the northwest of the country.   India: A deadly intense flash flood event occurred on 5 August in Dharali village, Uttarkashi, following heavy rainfall in the upper catchment of the Kheer Ganga river. More than 100 people were reported missing as the torrent of water raged down the hillside and destroyed houses and swept away vehicles and people in the town.   Pakistan declared a state of emergency in the worst affected areas and sent in army helicopters for the rescue and relief effort after flooding in June and July. During August over 400 people are reported to have died in flooding events.   Republic of Korea: From 16-20 July, some areas in the southern part of the country received record rainfall of more than 115 mm per hour. The President declared a special disaster zones and activated national emergency management mechanisms.There were at least 18 confirmed deaths, with dozens injured. More than 13,000 people were evacuated from their homes. There was widespread damage to property, roads and infrastructure and disruption to energy supplies and transport.   A devastating flood swept through Nepal’s Rasuwa district on 7 July, apparently due to a glacial lake outburst over the border in China’s Tibet Autonomous Region. Initial reports said seven people died and 19 people were missing. It destroyed hydropower capacity, swept away an important bridge and disrupted cross-border trade.   Scientists have expressed shock at the increased frequency of glacial origin flooding hazards. In the 2000s experts would anticipate a glacial origin flood to hit the Hindu Kush Himalaya region once every 5 to 10 years. In two months - May and June 2025 alone saw three glacial origin floods hit the region, in Nepal (Limi), in Afghanistan (Andorab valley) and Pakistan (Chitral, Hunza). On 7 July, there was not just one, but two glacial origin floods strike Nepal. Temperature rise is known to play a key role in the increasing frequency of glacial origin floods.   Texas Hill Country Floods   More than 100 people were confirmed dead and dozens more missing after months worth of rain fell in the space of a few hours in Texas Hill Country on 4 July. Many of the victims were young children at vacation camps swept up in the swollen river waters.   A global study by the World Bank estimates that 1.81 billion people (23% of the world population) are directly exposed to high risk flood events, with 89% of them residing in low- and middle-income countries.   Global climate predictions show temperatures are expected to continue at or near record levels in the next five years, increasing climate risks and impacts on societies, economies and sustainable development, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).   http://www.savethechildren.net/news/monsoon-floods-extreme-weather-wreak-havoc-across-asia-killing-more-130-children-and http://reliefweb.int/report/pakistan/pakistan-monsoon-floods-2025-flash-update-9-16-september-2025 http://news.un.org/en/story/2025/09/1165864 http://wmo.int/news/media-centre/global-climate-predictions-show-temperatures-expected-remain-or-near-record-levels-coming-5-years   * World’s Largest Fossil Fuel and Cement Producers are responsible for half the intensity of recent Heat Waves, new study shows. The study published in the journal, Nature documents how human-induced climate change has increased the frequency and severity of more than 200 heat waves:   http://ethz.ch/en/news-and-events/eth-news/news/2025/09/rising-heat-waves-tied-to-fossil-fuel-and-cement-production.html http://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09450-9 http://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-02915-x http://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-02938-4 http://carbonmajors.org/index.html Visit the related web page
	Climate Change is an Existential Threat to Humanity by International Court of Justice, agencies   23 July 2025   The International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, Netherlands, issued its advisory opinion on the obligations of States in respect of climate change, read out by the President of the Court, Judge Iwasawa Yuji, on Wednesday.   The UN’s principal judicial body ruled that States have an obligation to protect the environment from greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and act with due diligence and cooperation to fulfill this obligation.   This includes the obligation under the Paris Agreement on climate change to limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.   The Court further ruled that if States breach these obligations, they incur legal responsibility and may be required to cease the wrongful conduct, offer guarantees of non-repetition and make full reparation depending on the circumstances.   UN Secretary-General António Guterres welcomed the historic decision. "This is a victory for our planet, for climate justice and for the power of young people to make a difference," he said. “The world must respond.”   The case was “unlike any that have previously come before the court,” President of the International Court of Justice Judge Yuji Iwasawa said while reading the court’s unanimous advisory opinion outlining the legal obligations of United Nations member states with regard to climate change.   This case was not simply a “legal problem” but “concerned an existential problem of planetary proportions that imperils all forms of life and the very health of our planet,” Iwasawa said.   “A complete solution to this daunting and self-inflicted problem requires the contribution of all fields of human knowledge, whether law, science, economics or any other; above all, a lasting and satisfactory solution requires human will and wisdom at the individual social and political levels to change our habits and current way of life to secure a future for ourselves and those who are yet to come”.   "Failure of a state to take appropriate action to protect the climate system … may constitute an internationally wrongful act," court president Yuji Iwasawa said. "The legal consequences resulting from the commission of an internationally wrongful act may include … full reparations to injured states in the form of restitution, compensation and satisfaction."   The court added that a "sufficient direct and certain causal nexus" had to be shown "between the wrongful act and the injury".   The Court used Member States’ commitments to both environmental and human rights treaties to justify this decision. UN Member States are parties to a variety of environmental treaties, including ozone layer treaties, the Biodiversity Convention, the Kyoto Protocol, the Paris Agreement and many more, which oblige them to protect the environment for people worldwide and for future generations.   The right to “a clean, healthy and sustainable environment is a precondition for the enjoyment of many human rights,” since Member States are parties to numerous human rights treaties, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, they are required to guarantee the enjoyment of such rights by addressing climate change.   In September 2021, the Pacific Island State of Vanuatu announced that it would seek an advisory opinion from the Court on climate change. This initiative was inspired by the youth group Pacific Island Students Fighting Climate Change, which underscored the need to act to address climate change, particularly in small island States.   After the country gaind the support of other UN Member States, the UN General Assembly, on 29 March 2023, adopted a resolution requesting an advisory opinion from the ICJ on two questions: (1) What are the obligations of States under international law to ensure the protection of the environment? and (2) What are the legal consequences for States under these obligations when they cause harm to the environment?   The ICJ ruling was welcomed by Ralph Regenvanu, Minister of Climate Change Adaptation, Meteorology & Geo-Hazards, Energy, Environment and Disaster Management for the Republic of Vanuatu.   “Today’s ruling is a landmark opinion that confirms what we, vulnerable nations have been saying, and we’ve known for so long, that states do have legal obligations to act on climate change, and these obligations are guaranteed by international law. They’re guaranteed by human rights law, and they’re grounded in the duty to protect our environment, which we heard the court referred to so much,” Regenvanu said.   Mr Regenvanu hailed the court's decision as a "landmark milestone". "It's a very important course correction in this critically important time," he said. "Even as fossil fuel expansion continues under the US's influence, along with the loss of climate finance and technology transfer, and the lack of climate ambition following the US's withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, major polluters, past and present, cannot continue to act with impunity and treat developing countries as sacrifice zones to further feed corporate greed."   Margaretha Wewerinke-Singh, legal counsel for Vanuatu’s ICJ case, said the opinion meant that the “era where fossil fuel producers can freely produce and can argue that their climate policies are a matter of discretion—they’re free to decide on the climate policies—that era is over. We have entered an era of accountability, in which states can be held to account for their current emissions if they’re excessive but also for what they have failed to do in the past.”   Vishal Prasad, the director of Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change and one of the students who initiated the case, said the advisory opinion would play a major role in holding polluters accountable.   "The ICJ's decision brings us closer to a world where governments can no longer turn a blind eye to their legal responsibilities," he said. "It affirms a simple truth of climate justice: those who did the least to fuel this crisis deserve protection, reparations, and a future."   ICJ president Yuji Iwasawa said the climate "must be protected for present and future generations" and the adverse effect of a warming planet "may significantly impair the enjoyment of certain human rights, including the right to life".   The detailed ICJ advisory opinion dealt with obligations of states under various climate conventions and treaties and humanitarian law. The court concluded that in terms of the climate agreements, state parties:   To the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change have an obligation to adopt measures with a view to contributing to the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to climate change.   Have additional obligations to take the lead in combating climate change by limiting their greenhouse gas emissions and enhancing their greenhouse gas sinks and reservoirs.   To the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, have a duty to cooperate with each other in order to achieve the underlying objective of the convention. To the Kyoto Protocol must comply with applicable provisions of the protocol.   To the Paris Agreement have an obligation to act with due diligence in taking measures in accordance with their common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities capable of making an adequate contribution to achieving the temperature goal set out in the agreement.   To the Paris Agreement have an obligation to prepare, communicate and maintain successive and progressive, nationally determined contributions, which, when taken together, are capable of achieving the temperature goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.   State parties to the Paris agreement have an obligation to pursue measures which are capable of achieving the objectives set out in their successive nationally determined contributions.   State parties to the Paris agreement have obligations of adaptation and cooperation, including through technology and financial transfers, which must be performed in good faith.   In addition, the court was of the opinion that customary international law sets forth obligations for states to ensure the protection of the climate system and other parts of the environment from anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions.   These obligations include the following:   States have a duty to prevent significant harm to the environment by acting with due diligence and to use all means at their disposal to prevent activities carried out within their jurisdiction or control from causing significant harm to the climate system and other parts of the environment in accordance with their common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities.   States have a duty to cooperate with each other in good faith to prevent significant harm to the climate system and other parts of the environment, which requires sustained and continuous forms of cooperation by states when taking measures to prevent such harm.   State parties to the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the ozone layer and to the protocol and to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete ozone layer and its Kigali amendment, the Convention on Biological Diversity, and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in those countries experiencing serious drought and/or desertification, particularly in Africa, have obligations under these treaties to ensure the protection of the climate system and other parts of the environment from anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions.   State parties to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea have an obligation to adopt measures to protect and preserve the marine environment, including from the adverse effects of climate change, and to cooperate in good faith.   However, the court did not end there; it was of the opinion that states have obligations under international human rights law and are required to take “measures to protect the climate system and other parts of the environment.”   The court said a clean, healthy and sustainable environment was a precondition for exercising many human rights, such as the right to life, the right to health, the right to an adequate standard of living, including access to water, food and housing.   * ICJ Summary: Obligation of States in respect of climate change (7pp): http://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/187/187-20250723-pre-01-00-en.pdf   * ICJ complete advisory: Obligation of States in respect of climate change (140pp): http://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/187/187-20250723-adv-01-00-en.pdf   http://news.un.org/en/story/2025/07/1165475 http://webtv.un.org/en/asset/k1t/k1tey5ro2w http://www.icj-cij.org/case/187/press-releases http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/07/turk-hails-landmark-icj-ruling-affirming-states-human-rights-obligations http://www.lse.ac.uk/granthaminstitute/news/institute-responds-to-international-court-of-justice-advisory-opinion/ http://www.ciel.org/news/icj-climate-opinion-ends-fossil-fuel-impunity/ http://wwf.panda.org/wwf_news/press_releases/?14459466/ICJ-advisory-opinion-climate-change http://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2025/07/global-international-court-of-justices-landmark-opinion-bolsters-fight-for-climate-justice-and-accountability/ http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/jul/23/healthy-environment-is-a-human-right-top-un-court-rules http://www.dw.com/en/worlds-top-court-says-healthy-environment-is-a-human-right/a-73373617 http://www.ipsnews.net/2025/07/climate-change-existential-threat-to-humanity-says-icj/ http://earth.org/landmark-moment-for-climate-justice-reactions-pour-in-after-icj-delivers-historic-opinion-on-states-climate-change-obligations/ http://www.ciel.org/project-update/advancing-climate-justice-at-the-icj/   http://www.lse.ac.uk/granthaminstitute/news/luciano-lliuya-v-rwe-a-major-step-forward-for-climate-justice/ http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/06/de-fossilising-economies-key-course-correction-climate-change-and-human http://documents.un.org/doc/undoc/gen/g25/070/22/pdf/g2507022.pdf http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/07/un-experts-hail-landmark-inter-american-court-opinion-states-extensive http://blogs.law.columbia.edu/climatechange/2025/07/15/the-right-to-a-healthy-environment-as-a-catalyst-for-urgent-and-ambitious-climate-action-at-the-iacthr/ http://climate.law.columbia.edu/ http://www.pik-potsdam.de/en/news/latest-news/pace-of-warming-has-doubled-since-1980s http://www.savethechildren.net/news/climate-change-icj-ruling-landmark-win-children http://www.rightsoffuturegenerations.org/the-principles http://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/hrbodies/hrcouncil/sessions-regular/session57/advance-versions/A-HRC-57-30-AEV.pdf http://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/general-comments-and-recommendations/crccgc26-general-comment-no-26-2023-childrens-rights Visit the related web page
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