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The\u202flatest\u00a0State of the Climate in the South-West Pacific report<\/em>\u202ffound that\u00a02025 was the second warmest year on record for the region<\/strong>, behind 2024, with average surface air temperature\u00a0about\u00a00.37 \u00b0C above the 1991\u20132020 average.\u00a0<\/p>\n The report\u00a0documents how rising sea levels threaten low-lying island nations and coastal settlements\u00a0\u2013\u00a0while\u00a0marine heatwaves and ocean acidification are damaging ecosystems\u00a0critical for\u00a0food security, tourism,\u00a0fisheries\u00a0and local economies.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n It warned that\u00a0the region\u2019s last remaining tropical glacier \u2013\u00a0located\u00a0in Indonesia \u2013 may disappear by the end of this year or early 2027 as\u00a0the remaining tropical ice cover is only about two per cent of the size\u00a0observed\u00a0in 1988<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cFor many countries and territories in the Southwest Pacific, the ocean is central to livelihoods,\u00a0economies\u00a0and resilience,\u201d\u00a0said\u00a0WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIn 2025, the region experienced warming oceans, rising sea levels, marine heatwaves and ocean acidification, alongside tropical cyclones and the continued loss of tropical glacier ice.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n WMO said long-term ocean warming has made\u00a0marine heatwaves more frequent,\u00a0longer\u00a0lasting\u00a0and more intense<\/strong>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n In 2025, record-high ocean heat content in the upper\u00a0700\u00a0metres\u00a0of the ocean\u00a0was\u00a0observed\u00a0south of Australia and in the southern Tasman Sea, as well as in parts of the tropical North Pacific between the Philippines and Hawaii and locally south of Sumatra\u00a0in\u00a0Indonesia.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Average sea-surface temperatures remained high across the\u00a0whole\u00a0region despite the temporary cooling influence of\u00a0the\u00a0La Ni\u00f1a\u00a0climate pattern\u00a0in some areas,\u00a0with\u00a0record levels around Papua New Guinea, in the Australian region and across a broad area of the tropical western North Pacific\u00a0extending from east of the Philippines to Hawaii.\u00a0<\/p>\n Marine heatwaves can\u00a0cause\u00a0coral bleaching, fish deaths,\u00a0major\u00a0disruption to aquaculture, kelp forest loss, shifts in species distribution and harmful algal blooms, WMO explained.\u00a0<\/p>\n Although\u00a0marine heatwave\u00a0coverage in 2025 was lower than the previous year, it\u00a0still marked\u00a0the most extensive ever recorded in a year without an El Ni\u00f1o event, which the agency\u00a0called\u00a0\u201ca worrisome sign for 2026, with a potentially strong El Ni\u00f1o event now developing<\/strong>.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n During\u00a0summer\u00a02024\/2025, marine heatwave conditions around Australia contributed to coral bleaching in both\u00a0the\u00a0eastern and western reef systems in the same season for the first time,\u00a0highlighting\u00a0the need for\u00a0effective\u00a0early warning services.\u00a0<\/p>\n Sea levels also continued to rise\u00a0in response to ocean warming. Between 1999 and 2025, sea level in the\u00a0Southwest\u00a0Pacific\u00a0region\u00a0increased at an average rate of 3.7 \u00b1 0.03\u00a0millimetres\u00a0per year.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The report\u00a0identified\u00a0an elongated area of especially high sea-level rise stretching from the eastern coast of Australia to around 120\u00b0W longitude, covering the Coral and Tasman Seas and a large area west of New Zealand<\/strong>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Moreover,\u00a0almost the\u00a0entire Southwest Pacific recorded historically low surface ocean pH values in 2025, as seawater absorbed increasing amounts of carbon dioxide and became more acidic.\u00a0<\/p>\n The year\u2019s\u00a0deadliest single event was Cyclone\u00a0Senyar, the first known system to reach tropical cyclone intensity in the Strait of Malacca.\u00a0More than\u00a010 million people\u00a0in Indonesia and Malaysia\u00a0were affected while more\u00a0than 1,200\u00a0were killed.\u00a0<\/p>\nA stark picture<\/strong>\u00a0<\/h2>\n
Oceans under pressure<\/strong>\u00a0<\/h2>\n
Fisheries and ecosystems disrupted<\/strong>\u00a0<\/h2>\n
Rising sea levels<\/strong>\u00a0<\/h2>\n
Deadly and destructive storm<\/strong>\u00a0<\/h2>\n