ASIATODAY.ID, JAKARTA – A climate warning is emerging from the heart of the Asia-Pacific as warming oceans, rising seas and accelerating ice loss threaten to transform the region’s ecosystems, economies and coastal communities.
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has warned that the South-West Pacific experienced its second-warmest year on record in 2025, with climate extremes increasingly affecting marine environments, fisheries, infrastructure and millions of people living in vulnerable coastal areas.
The findings are outlined in WMO’s latest State of the Climate in the South-West Pacific 2025 report, which highlights the growing impacts of ocean warming, marine heatwaves, sea-level rise and extreme weather across the region.
Papua’s Vanishing Glacier Signals a Tropical Climate Emergency
One of the most striking climate signals is unfolding in Indonesia’s Papua.
WMO reported that the remaining tropical ice cover in Papua has declined to only around 2 percent of its 1988 size. The region’s last tropical glacier is expected to disappear by the end of 2026 or early 2027.
The disappearance of Papua’s glacier represents a major milestone in the global climate crisis. Tropical glaciers are among the most sensitive indicators of rising temperatures, and their rapid retreat demonstrates how warming is affecting even some of the planet’s most remote environments.
For Indonesia, an archipelagic nation with thousands of islands and extensive coastal areas, the loss of tropical ice underscores the urgency of strengthening climate adaptation and resilience.
Pacific Oceans Enter an Era of Extreme Heat
The climate threat is not limited to land. The ocean surrounding Asia-Pacific nations is also undergoing rapid change.
WMO said long-term ocean warming has increased the frequency, duration and intensity of marine heatwaves, creating severe consequences for marine ecosystems and communities that depend on the sea.
In 2025, marine heatwaves affected almost the entire South-West Pacific region. Although less extensive than in 2024, the coverage was the largest ever recorded for a year without an El Niño event.
The most severe and extreme marine heatwave conditions were recorded between the Maritime Continent — including Indonesia — and Australia, as well as parts of the western South Pacific.
Marine heatwaves are linked to widespread coral bleaching, fish deaths, changes in marine species distribution, harmful algal blooms and disruption to aquaculture operations.
For Indonesia and other coastal economies, these changes pose growing risks to fisheries, food security and millions of livelihoods.
Rising Seas Put Coastal Communities at Risk
Alongside ocean warming, rising sea levels are creating new challenges for countries across the Pacific and Southeast Asia.
WMO recorded that sea levels in the South-West Pacific rose at an average rate of 3.7 millimetres per year between 1999 and 2025.
The increase is driven by the expansion of warmer ocean waters and the melting of glaciers, ice caps and ice sheets.
Low-lying coastal communities face growing exposure to flooding, erosion, infrastructure damage and economic disruption. For many island nations and coastal cities, climate adaptation has become a critical development priority.
Extreme Weather Shows Growing Climate Vulnerability
The WMO report also highlighted the increasing threat of extreme weather events across the region.
One of the most destructive events was Cyclone Senyar, the first known tropical cyclone to reach tropical cyclone intensity in the Strait of Malacca since records began in 1886.
The cyclone affected more than 10 million people across Indonesia and Malaysia and caused more than 1,200 deaths.
According to WMO, the event demonstrated the need for stronger early warning systems and improved disaster preparedness as climate hazards become increasingly complex, combining storms, floods, landslides and other cascading risks.
Asia-Pacific Faces a Race Against Time
The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) warned that rising temperatures are intensifying risks across food systems, public health, infrastructure and oceans.
“Early warning and early action save lives when alerts are timely, messages are trusted and last-mile delivery reaches vulnerable communities,” ESCAP Executive Secretary Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana said.
The WMO report was released during the Southeast Asia Marine Heatwaves Services Workshop in Singapore, where experts discussed strengthening forecasting systems and regional cooperation to address growing ocean-related climate risks.
For Indonesia and the wider Asia-Pacific region, the message is increasingly urgent: climate change is no longer a distant scenario.
It is unfolding now — in the disappearance of Papua’s tropical glacier, the warming of the Pacific Ocean and the growing vulnerability of millions of people living along Asia’s coastlines. (AT Network)
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