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Welcome to the GCA Blog: Climate Communications. I'm Poulomi Chakravarty, the founder of the Global Climate Association. Our blog brings to light climate change issues and encourages active discussions and actions. We share the latest in climate science, inspiring stories, and practical solutions. Join our journey to make a meaningful difference in the fight against climate change.
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Today I had the opportunity to take part in a community screening of Symbiotic Earth, hosted by Bio4Climate, and the experience stayed with me long after the film ended. Watching the documentary together—rather than alone—made its message feel especi...
Guest Blog by Kashyapi Chakravarty
A Review of State of Global Water Resources by World Meteorological Organization
Emerging Indicators of Climate Change
Erratic monsoons, vanishing forests, and reckless building are converging into a new era of climate disasters across the Himalayas.
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) State of the Climate in Asia 2024 (2025 )report makes clear that Asia is now experiencing climate change at an accelerated rate, with impacts ranging from deadly heatwaves to catastrophic flooding (WMO, 2025).
Asia is warming nearly twice as fast as the global average, with 2024 recorded as one of the hottest years on record for the region (WMO, 2025). Temperature anomalies reached +1.04 °C above the 1991–2020 average, a dangerous threshold for a region that holds more than half of the world’s population. A companion scientific review, the NAM S&T Centre and South Asian Meteorological Association’s Fact File on Heatwaves (2025), emphasizes that extreme heat events are becoming longer, more frequent, and more intense, with devastating impacts on health, agriculture, water, and energy systems in the developing world (NAM S&T Centre & SAMA, 2025).
Across Asia, heatwaves are pushing human tolerance to the limit. In 2024, Myanmar and Pakistan recorded temperatures exceeding 48–50 °C, leading to widespread health emergencies (WMO, 2025). These extreme heat events are exacerbated in urban areas where the “heat island effect” compounds health risks (Li et al., 2025). The most affected are outdoor laborers, marginalized communities, and children, many of whom lack access to cooling or adequate healthcare (WMO, 2025).
Urban areas are especially vulnerable due to the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect, where built environments trap heat, worsening exposure for millions. The Heatwaves Fact File reports that in South Asia, heat stress-induced deaths could reach 85 per 100,000 people by 2100 without strong adaptation measures (NAM S&T Centre & SAMA, 2025).
Moreover, heatwaves have ripple effects across multiple systems: reduced crop yields, strained water supplies, soaring energy demand, and heightened risks for marginalized populations who lack cooling access or live in poorly ventilated housing (NAM S&T Centre & SAMA, 2025). Cities like Ahmedabad, India, have pioneered Heat Action Plans (HAPs) combining early-warning systems, public awareness, and cooling shelters to save lives, yet most regions lack such protective frameworks (Azhar et al., 2014).
The South Asian monsoon is increasingly erratic, with shorter but more intense rainfall periods. In 2023–2024, India, Bangladesh, and China experienced devastating floods, displacing millions and causing billions of dollars in damages (AP News, 2025). At the same time, accelerated Himalayan glacier melt is heightening river flood risk while destabilizing long-term water supplies (WMO, 2024).
Erratic rainfall and soil degradation are disrupting agricultural production. Coastal farming regions face salinization from sea-level rise, while inland droughts and heatwaves reduce crop yields. Together, these threaten Asia’s position as a global food producer and undermine livelihoods for millions of smallholder farmers (Perfecto et al., 2009).
While technological solutions are essential, nature itself offers some of the most cost-effective and resilient defenses against climate chaos. Trees, forests, and biodiversity-rich ecosystems provide multiple layers of protection.
Urban greening can reduce surface and air temperatures significantly. Trees cool through both shade and evapotranspiration, lowering daytime highs by up to 1.5 °C in dense canopy zones (Bowler et al., 2010). This natural cooling reduces heat-related illness and energy demand for artificial cooling.
Beyond traditional reforestation, Miyawaki forests dense, fast-growing native forests pioneered by Akira Miyawaki are being established in several Asian cities to combat heat islands, restore biodiversity, and improve air quality. These micro-forests grow up to ten times faster and are thirty times denser than conventional plantations, making them particularly effective for urban climate adaptation (Miyawaki, 1999; Sharma et al., 2021). Organizations such as Biodiversity for a Livable Climate are now implementing Miyawaki forest programs globally, emphasizing their role in restoring degraded ecosystems and strengthening community resilience. Similarly, permaculture practices, which design agricultural landscapes to mimic natural ecosystems, offer a holistic approach to sustainable food production, water conservation, and soil regeneration. By integrating trees, crops, and livestock into circular systems, permaculture enhances biodiversity while reducing vulnerability to floods and droughts (Ferguson & Lovell, 2014). Together, Miyawaki forests and permaculture embody regenerative design principles that strengthen both climate resilience and community well-being.
Mangroves, wetlands, and forests act as natural barriers against floods and storm surges. For instance, mangroves can reduce wave energy by up to 66% within the first 100 m of forest (Alongi, 2008). Such ecosystems provide low-cost resilience for coastal Asia, where millions live in flood-prone areas.
Integrating trees into farmland known as agroforestry enhances soil fertility, stabilizes yields, and reduces climate vulnerability. In South Asia, agroforestry systems are now included in climate adaptation strategies for their role in improving food security and farmer incomes (Dhyani et al., 2021).
Forests are also vital in slowing global warming. They store carbon, buffer regional climate systems, and maintain biodiversity. Protecting and restoring forests is both an adaptation strategy for local resilience and a mitigation measure for global climate stability (IPCC, 2019).
The State of the Climate in Asia 2025 highlights a sobering reality: the region is facing rising heat, flooding, agricultural stress, and economic losses due to climate change. Yet, solutions exist within reach. By prioritizing biodiversity conservation, expanding urban forests, restoring mangroves, and embedding agroforestry in agricultural systems, Asia can build resilience while addressing the root causes of climate change.
In the chaos of a warming world, trees and biodiversity remain our most enduring lifelines - Poulomi
Alongi, D. M. (2008). Mangrove forests: Resilience, protection from tsunamis, and responses to global climate change. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 76(1), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2007.08.024
AP News. (2025, July). Climate change makes South Asia’s monsoon season more prone to floods, landslides and heavy rains. Associated Press. https://apnews.com/article/ef8b703ab93bc310e397d896b032ce8f
Azhar, G. S., Mavalankar, D., Nori-Sarma, A., Rajiva, A., Dutta, P., Jaiswal, A., & Hess, J. J. (2014). Heat-related mortality in India: Excess all-cause mortality associated with the 2010 Ahmedabad heat wave. PLoS One, 9(3), e91831. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0091831
Bowler, D. E., Buyung-Ali, L., Knight, T. M., & Pullin, A. S. (2010). Urban greening to cool towns and cities: A systematic review of the empirical evidence. Landscape and Urban Planning, 97(3), 147–155. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2010.05.006
Dhyani, S., Murthy, I. K., Kadaverugu, R., & Verma, P. (2021). Agroforestry for achieving global climate adaptation and mitigation targets: Evidence from South Asia. Forests, 12(3), 303. https://doi.org/10.3390/f12030303
Ferguson, R. S., & Lovell, S. T. (2014). Permaculture for agroecology: Design, movement, practice, and worldview. Agronomy for Sustainable Development, 34(2), 251–274. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13593-013-0181-6
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. (2019). Climate Change and Land: An IPCC Special Report on Climate Change, Desertification, Land Degradation, Sustainable Land Management, Food Security, and Greenhouse Gas Fluxes in Terrestrial Ecosystems. Cambridge University Press.
Li, G., Zhou, W., Ouyang, Z., Xu, W., Zheng, H., & He, F. (2025). Global urban greening and its implication for urban heat mitigation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 122(5), e2417179122. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2417179122
Miyawaki, A. (1999). Creative ecology: Restoration of native forests by native trees. Plant Biotechnology, 16(1), 15–25. https://doi.org/10.5511/plantbiotechnology.16.15
Tyagi, A., Chakravarty, P., Das, S., Payra, S., & Das, M. K. (2025). Heatwaves: Impacts and implications on the developing world (Fact File No. STI-FF/06/2025). New Delhi: Non-Aligned Movement Centre for Science and Technology (NAM S&T Centre) and South Asian Meteorological Association (SAMA).
Perfecto, I., Vandermeer, J., & Wright, A. (2009). Nature’s matrix: Linking agriculture, conservation and food sovereignty. Earthscan.
Sharma, G., Sharma, R., & Lal, R. (2021). Miyawaki forests as an urban ecological engineering practice for climate change mitigation and adaptation. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 59, 127006. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2021.127006
World Meteorological Organization. (2024). State of the Climate in Asia 2024 (WMO-No. 1373). Geneva: WMO. https://wmo.int/publication-series/state-of-climate-asia-2024
World Meteorological Organization. (2025). State of the Climate in Asia 2025 (WMO-No. 1373). Geneva: WMO.
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