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The latest State of the Climate in the Southwest Pacific Report found it 2025 will be the second hottest year ever recorded in the regionafter 2024, with average surface air temperatures approximately 0.37 °C above the 1991–2020 average.
This report documents how rising sea levels threaten island nations and coastal settlements – while marine heatwaves and ocean acidification damage ecosystems that are critical to food security, tourism, fisheries and local economies.
A clear picture
The report warns that the last remaining tropical glacier in the region – located in Indonesia – may disappear by the end of this year or early 2027 as time increases. The remaining tropical ice cover is only about two percent of the size observed in 1988.
“For many countries and regions in the Southwest Pacific, the ocean is central to livelihoods, economies and resilience,” said WMO Secretary General Celeste Saulo.
“By 2025, the region will experience ocean warming, sea level rise, marine heat waves, and ocean acidification, along with tropical cyclones and continued loss of tropical glacier ice.”
The oceans are under pressure
The WMO says long-term ocean warming is already underway Marine heat waves occur more frequently, last longer, and are more intense.
In 2025, record-high ocean heat content in the upper 700 meters of the ocean was observed in southern Australia and in the southern Tasman Sea, as well as in the tropical North Pacific between the Philippines and Hawaii and locally in southern Sumatra in Indonesia.
Average sea surface temperatures remain high across the region despite the temporary cooling influence of the La Niña climate pattern in some areas, with the highest temperatures around Papua New Guinea, in the Australian region, and over a wide area of the tropical western North Pacific region stretching from the Philippines east to Hawaii.
Fisheries and ecosystems are disrupted
Marine heatwaves can cause coral bleaching, fish kills, major disruption to aquaculture, loss of kelp forests, shifts in species distribution and harmful algal blooms, the WMO explains.
Although marine heatwave coverage in 2025 was lower than in previous years, it was still the largest ever recorded in a year without an El Niño event, which the agency called “a worrying sign for 2026, with the potential for a strong El Niño event now developing.”
During the summer of 2024/2025, marine heatwave conditions around Australia contributed to coral bleaching on both eastern and western reef systems in the same season for the first time, highlighting the need for effective early warning services.
Rising sea levels
Sea levels also continue to rise in response to ocean warming. Between 1999 and 2025, sea levels in the Southwest Pacific region rise by an average of 3.7 ± 0.03 millimeters per year.
The report identified an elongated region of very high sea level rise extending from the east coast of Australia to about 120°W longitude, including the Coral Sea and the Tasman Sea as well as a large area west of New Zealand.
In addition, almost the entire Southwest Pacific region will record low sea surface pH values by 2025, as seawater absorbs more and more carbon dioxide and becomes more acidic.
Deadly and destructive storms
The deadliest event this year was Typhoon Senyar, the first known system to reach tropical cyclone intensity in the Malacca Strait. More than 10 million people in Indonesia and Malaysia were affected, while more than 1,200 people died.
The heaviest rainfall was recorded at the northern tip of Sumatra, where more than 400 millimeters fell in one dayas well as in northern Peninsular Malaysia and southern Thailand.
Early warning saves lives
This report was produced by WMO in collaboration with national meteorological and hydrological agencies, international data centers, leading climate research and marine services institutions, and UN partners, including regional Economic and Social Commissions, ESCAP.
“Across Asia and the Pacific, heat increases multi-hazard risks, intersecting food systems, public health, infrastructure and oceans, and placing new pressures on health and livelihoods,” said Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana, Executive Secretary of ESCAP.
“Early warning and early action can save lives if warnings are given in a timely manner, messages can be trusted, and last-mile delivery can reach vulnerable groups.”
