BRIEFING ALERT: Record temps and ocean heatwaves across our region - WMO The State of the Climate Report - SW Pacific

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2025-06-05 10:01

Australia; New Zealand; Pacific; International

Credit: The Ocean Agency

**Briefing recording now available** Unprecedented ocean warming engulfed our region in 2024, and temperatures across the land and ocean were the hottest on record, according to the latest State of the Climate in the South-West Pacific 2024 Report from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). The report covers a vast area that includes Australia, New Zealand, the Pacific, and parts of Southeast Asia. Marine heatwaves stretched for nearly 40 million km², an area five times the size of Australia, and more than 10% of the global ocean surface area. Extreme rainfall and flooding caused deadly and destructive impacts across the region, with major events in Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines, while other parts of the region remained unusually dry. Come to this briefing to hear from the reports' international authors.

Media release

From: Australian Science Media Centre

NEWS BRIEFING: Tuesday 3 June 2025 at 10:00 AEST ONLINE

Unprecedented ocean warming engulfed our region in 2024, and temperatures across the land and ocean were the hottest on record, according to the latest State of the Climate in the South-West Pacific 2024 Report from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). The report covers a vast area that includes Australia, New Zealand, the Pacific, and parts of Southeast Asia.

Marine heatwaves stretched for nearly 40 million km², an area five times the size of Australia, and more than 10% of the global ocean surface area.

Extreme rainfall and flooding caused deadly and destructive impacts across the region, with major events in Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines, while other parts of the region remained unusually dry.

Come to this briefing to hear from the reports' international authors.

Speakers:

Ben Churchill is the Director of the Regional Office for Asia and the South-West Pacific at the World Meteorological Organization (WMO)
Thea Turkington is a lead author of the report, World Meteorological Organization (WMO)
Blair Trewin is a lead author of the report, World Meteorological Organization (WMO)

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