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More bushfires may be in store for Australia as its summer season progresses and climate change plays its role, says WMO
As bushfires rage on in Australia -- with devastating consequences in their aftermath -- there is a potential for further damage as the summer season in the Southern hemisphere progresses, the spokesperson for the UN’s World Meteorological Organization (WMO) told journalists on Tuesday.
“Catastrophic and unprecedented fires” are still raging in Australia, WMO spokesperson Clare Nullis told journalists in Geneva, adding that these “have killed more than 22 people, destroyed hundreds of homes, burnt hundreds of thousands of hectares of land and caused absolutely massive but massive devastation to wild life, to ecosystems and to the environment”.
As it is still relatively early in the Australian summer, temperatures are expected to rise by the end of the week and there is a potential for further fires as the season progresses, Nullis said.
Satellite imagery has been able to show some of extent of the devastation, and according to WMO and satellite reports, the smoke is in the process of circumnavigating the planet. “The fires have led to hazardous air quality, which is a threat to human health in major cities in Australia, spreading to New Zealand,” the WMO reported, adding that the smoke has “drifted thousands of kilometers across the Pacific to South America.” Meteorological services in both Chile and Argentina have reported that “the long-range transport of smoke had reached there. The sunset in Buenos Aires reportedly turned red, the sky in central Chile were grey because of this smoke”, Nullis said.
Harmful pollutants released by wildfires create hazardous air quality “including toxic gases”, the WMO spokesperson said, highlighting that a far-reaching consequence is that the natural recovery of the forests is hampered as the “fires emit carbon dioxide, and obviously they burn up those very forests which are so vital for acting as carbon sinks and absorbing carbon dioxide”.
Australia had been unusually dry and warm in 2019 as a result of climate change, setting the scene for a long and challenging fire season. Despite a brief respite currently, temperatures in Australia are set to rise again by the end of the week.
“Climate change is playing a role and we should be in no doubt about that,” Nullis said. Australia is projected to experience future increases in both sea and air temperatures, the country’s meteorological agency has predicted, characterized by “more hot days and marine heat waves and fewer cooler extremes,” she said. Average temperatures in Australia have already increased by 1 degree Celsius since records-keeping began.
- Wide shot: exterior, flag alley, Palais des Nations, United Nations Geneva.
- Wide shot, press briefing room
- SOUNDBITE (EN) Clare Nullis, Spokesperson for the World Meteorological Organization (WMO): “Catastrophic and unprecedented fires have killed more than 22 people, destroyed hundreds of homes, burnt hundreds of thousands of hectares of land and caused absolutely massive but massive devastation to wild life, to ecosystems and to the environment”.
- Medium shot: podium
- SOUNDBITE (EN) Clare Nullis, Spokesperson for the World Meteorological Organization (WMO): “The fires have led to hazardous air quality which is a threat to human health in major cities in Australia, spreading to New Zealand and sent smokes drifting thousands of kilometers across the Pacific to South America. Last night meteorological services in both Chile and Argentina are reported that the long-range transport of smoke had reached there. The sunset in Buenos Aires reportedly turned red, the sky in central Chile were grey because of this smoke”.
- Wide shot, press briefing room
- SOUNDBITE (EN) Clare Nullis, Spokesperson for the World Meteorological Organization (WMO): “You know, in addition to the environmental devastation, wild fires do release harmful pollutants including particulate matter and toxic gases, such as carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides and other organic compounds into the atmosphere. And again thanks to satellite imagery we can see these gases, we can see where they are going, we can see how dense they are. A longer term problem is that fires emit carbon dioxide and obviously they burn up those very forests which are so vital for acting as carbon sinks and absorbing carbon dioxide”.
- Close up, journalist
- SOUNDBITE (EN) Clare Nullis, Spokesperson for the World Meteorological Organization (WMO): “On the one hand, you do have the natural climate variability, on the other hand climate change is playing a role and we should be in no doubt about that”.
- Medium shot, journalists
- SOUNDBITE (EN) - Clare Nullis, Spokesperson for the World Meteorological Organization (WMO): “Australia is projected experience further increases in sea and air temperatures with more hot days and marine heat waves and fewer cooler extremes. This cooler extremes are very important. Decreases in rain fall across southern Australia with more time in drought, but an increase in intense heavy rain fall throughout Australia”.
- Wide shot, journalists
- Wide shot, journalists
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As world’s water reserves change, countries must prepare for a new reality: WMO
New data showing that rivers were at their lowest level for decades last year provides further evidence that the climate crisis is real and countries must act immediately to protect themselves from the increasing threat to communities and livelihoods, the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Thursday.
The key findings from WMO’s State of Global Water Resources 2025 report covering the hydrological cycle and extreme events in the five-year period to last year:
- 2025 was one of driest years for river discharge in 35 years
- Past seven years have seen abnorfmal river flows
- Water storage on Earth’s land surface has decreased in past decade
- Widespread glacier loss across all regions for fourth consecutive year
- Asia and Africa are regions most affected by water-related disasters
- Water data availability has improved, but gaps remain in hard-hit areas
Highlighting the long-term decline in the Earth’s freshwater storage and glacier melt, WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo explained that the planet’s water reserves used to act as a planetary “savings account” that absorbed the occasional dry season, avoiding a water crisis. “One of the central stories of the 2025 report is what is happening to that savings account? And the simple answer is that we are depleting it,” she told journalists in Geneva.
Groundwater reserves are equally stretched and have been in decline since 2014, WMO’s report states, with nearly two-thirds of monitored wells worldwide showing levels lower than the historical norm and indicating a shift “further toward deficit…not recovery”.
“At the same time, we are seeing more water-related disasters,” Ms. Saulo said, while also stressing that the currently strengthening El Niño “will increase the risk of drought in some areas, and flooding in others”.
Glaciers disappearing
In 2025, for the fourth consecutive year, every major glaciated region on Earth lost ice mass, leading to short-term hazards including floods and long-term water insecurity, according to WMO.
Responding to a question about whether the changing global water cycle might have contributed to the deadly Nepal-China flooding disaster, Ms. Saulo explained that melting ice and rock was just one factor in the chain of events that ultimately sent a massive and deadly wall of water and debris downstream on 26 August, killing at least 1,367 people.
“You asked if it could happen again? Absolutely; the problem in this region is that there’s 63,700 glaciers at the last count,” she told a Press Conference in Geneva. “Even if you’re looking with remote sensing with satellites at these glaciers, you might see some faults, you might see some slight shifting, that does not mean necessarily catastrophic collapse. So, in order to plan for this, it’s very, very difficult. But the international community is looking very hard at ways in which we can bring people together to solve some of these monitoring issues.”
Data indicates that glaciers shrank between 2023 and 2025 with cumulative losses of 1,400 gigatonnes of water – or about one third of annual fresh water needs.
Every major glacier region on Earth lost ice for the fourth consecutive year.
“All 19 glacier regions around the globe lost ice; in Central Asia, Iceland, the Russian Arctic and western Canada and the United States, it was among the three worst years on record,” said Wayne Jenkinson, WMO’s Director of Hydrology and Cryosphere.
Some regions with smaller glaciers such as Central Europe, the Caucasus, the western Canada and the United States may already have reached “peak water”, Mr. Jenkinson warned.
“After this point, the glacier gives less meltwater each year simply because there is less ice left to melt. That matters for every community downstream that relies on water during hot, dry summers,” he explained.
Narelle van der Wel, WMO’s Head of Cryosphere Monitoring, Predictions and Services, stressed that while some further glacier loss is unavoidable, the eventual scale of the decline is not predetermined.
“Some glacier loss is inevitable, but total loss of glaciers is not yet inevitable,” she said, pointing to emissions reductions as central to limiting future losses.
Preparing for moving baselines
The report does not attribute every observed change to climate change alone. WMO says pressure on water resources and natural variability also contribute.
Mr. Jenkinson said governments need to prepare for “moving baselines” as historical patterns become less reliable.
“The situation 30 years ago is not where we are today,” he said. Countries, he added, need to prepare “for those changes that have really already arrived”.
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