By Heather Chen, CNN

Updated 9:54 PM EDT, Mon July 17, 2023

Hong KongCNN — 

The world’s largest and most populous continent is reckoning with the deadly effects of extreme summer weather, as countries endure blistering heatwaves and record monsoon rainfall, with governments warning residents to prepare for more to come.

This month torrential rains inundated parts of Japan, China, South Korea and India, upending the lives of millions and causing flash floods, landslides and power cuts. Record temperatures also led to a rise in heat-related illnesses, particularly among vulnerable communities such as the elderly.

On Saturday, at least 13 people in the central South Korean city of Cheongju died after waters from a burst riverbank flooded an underpass, trapping vehicles, including a public bus.

At least 41 people have died in South Korea in recent days and thousands more have been forced to evacuate their homes and seek temporary shelter, as heavy downpours hit central and southern parts of the country.

In response to the loss of life, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol called for an overhaul of the country’s approach to extreme weather.

“This kind of extreme weather event will become commonplace — we must accept climate change is happening, and deal with it,” Yoon said Monday.

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Rescue workers at the flooded underpass in Cheongju, South Korea on July 16, 2023.Kim Hong-ji/Reuters

In neighboring Japan, record rainfall in the southwest of the country resulted in devastating flooding that left at least six people dead, and many others still missing.

By John Irish and Leigh Thomas, Reuters

June 23, 20237:15 PM GMT+7 Updated 15 days ago

• Summary

• World leaders and global organisations meet in Paris
• Agreement for development banks to boost lending
• Rich nations close in on $100 bln climate finance pledge
• U.S., China adopt conciliatory tone on debt relief

PARIS, June 23 (Reuters) – Multilateral development banks like the World Bank are expected to find $200 billion in extra firepower for low-income economies by taking on more risk, a move that may require wealthy nations to inject more cash, world leaders said on Friday.

The leaders, gathered at a summit in Paris to thrash out funding for the climate transition and post-COVID debt burdens of poor countries, said their plans would secure billions of dollars of matching investment from the private sector.

AP

A Kashmiri man cools off at a stream on a hot summer day on the outskirts of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Tuesday, July 4, 2023. The entire planet sweltered for the two unofficial hottest days in human recordkeeping Monday and Tuesday, according to University of Maine scientists at the Climate Reanalyzer project. The unofficial heat records come after months of unusually hot conditions due to climate change and a strong El Nino event. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)

Experts stress urgent action as climate change consequences worsen, hoping rising temperatures and extreme weather trigger policy changes and international cooperation.

Shivam Dwivedi Updated 30 June, 2023 11:41 PM IST Published on 30 June, 2023 10:49 PM IST Krishi Jaran

Climate experts are sounding the alarm as the target of keeping long-term global warming within 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) appears to be slipping away. Despite months of unprecedented heat on both land and sea, nations have failed to set more ambitious goals in the fight against climate change.

According to the EU-funded Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), average global surface air temperatures were more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels for several days in early June, coinciding with the gathering of envoys in Bonn to prepare for this year’s annual climate talks in November. While temperatures have breached the 1.5-degree threshold temporarily in the past, this was the first time it occurred during the northern hemisphere summer, which began on June 1. Additionally, sea temperatures have broken records in April and May.

Emmanuel Macron’s summit meeting has given new momentum to investment in sustainable development and climate financing

MICHAEL JACOBS PARIS 24 JUNE 2023 2517 WORDS Inside Stories

North and South: French president Emmanuel Macron greets Barbadian prime minister Mia Mottley, whose Bridgetown Initiative inspired this week’s New Global Financing Pact Summit in Paris. Ludovic Marin/AFP via Getty Images

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When world leaders meet for their much-vaunted “summits,” what do they actually do? The question was posed by last week’s meeting in Beijing between US secretary of state Anthony Blinken and Chinese president Xi Jinping. The meeting lasted a whole thirty-five minutes. It was barely long enough to exchange diplomatic pleasantries, let alone to make progress on the various areas of US–China rivalry, in the South China Sea, on trade, technology and Ukraine. The actual negotiations had clearly happened elsewhere. The summit was mainly an exercise in symbolism: a handshake for the cameras and a carefully worded communique for the record.