Pacific Region Faces Record Heat in 2024 with Cyclones and Marine Heatwaves
The South-West Pacific region, including Australia and Pacific islands, recorded its hottest year in 2024, with temperatures 0.48°C above the 1991–2020 average. Extreme heat, cyclones, and marine heatwaves caused widespread damage, with rising sea levels and glacier loss threatening communities. Urgent action is needed to address climate change impacts.The Pacific region near Australia faced its hottest year in 2024, with record-breaking heat, cyclones, and marine heatwaves threatening ecosystems and communities. Learn about the impacts and need for climate action.
According a World Meteorological Organization (WMO) report made public on June 5, 2025, 2024 was the warmest year on record for the Pacific area close to Australia marked by extreme heat, powerful cyclones, and never-before marine heatwaves. Emphasizing the necessity of immediate action to combat global warming, this area—including nations such as Australia, Fiji, and Indonesia—suffered from major climate issues that affected ecosystems and people.
With temperatures 0.48 degrees Celsius higher than the 1991–2020 average, the South-West Pacific region—which includes Australia, Brunei Darussalam, the Cook Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, Indonesia, Kiribati, Malaysia, the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Samoa, Singapore, the Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu—recorded temperatures. This made it the hottest year in the area's history. Heavy flooding and the biggest maritime heatwave recorded characterized the year's severe weather events. Defined as persistent increases in ocean temperature, marine heatwaves impacted almost 10% of world oceans; sea surface temperatures reached all-time highs. Human-induced climate change, made worse by the El Nio weather pattern that heats the tropical Pacific, and low worldwide cloud cover drove these conditions.
Western Australia experienced an extreme heatwave in February 2024; Carnarvon hit 49.9C and Geraldton approached 49.3C, both breaking century-old records. Four days straight at 48C, Emu Creek set a first for any Australian location. The area also witnessed opposing weather patterns: intense droughts in southern Australia, northern New Zealand, and Pacific islands such the Cook Islands; heavy rains in Malaysia, Indonesia, and northern Australia were among the wettest in thirty years.
With 12 named storms—twice the usual average—causing over $430 million in losses, the Philippines' late cyclone season was notably busy. With values from 2021 and 2023, ocean heat content in 2024 was among the highest ever. Rising sea levels—driven by ocean warming and glacier melt—outpaced the worldwide average of 3.5 mm per year in the South-West Pacific, endangering coastal populations. Rising seas eroded and flooded Fijis Serua Province, destroying crops and houses.
Western New Guinea and Indonesia saw an acceleration of glacier loss; between April 2022 and August 2024, 30 to 50 percent of glaciers vanished, maybe gone by 2026.
Conclusion:
The record-breaking heat and intense storms in the Pacific area in 2024 highlight the growing effects of climate change. Marine heatwaves, rising sea levels, and strong cyclones are disturbing ecosystems and livelihoods, especially in vulnerable island countries. Through better early warning systems and community readiness, the WMO study calls for increased climate resilience. To lower greenhouse gas emissions and safeguard local ecosystems and communities from additional damage, global collaboration is absolutely necessary.
Source:: Outlook Business,
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