WMO Report Details 2025 Climate Extremes Across Latin America and Caribbean

A World Meteorological Organization report released Monday described record heat, drought, and flooding across Latin America and the Caribbean in 2025. 9 degrees Fahrenheit in Mexicali and recorded its rainiest June on record while 85 percent of the country reported drought conditions.

The report characterized these events as "hydrological whiplash," in which prolonged dry periods are interrupted by intense rainfall that produces floods and landslides without replenishing reservoirs or soils.

Floods in spring 2025 affected more than 100,000 people in Peru and Ecuador. Mexico City faced potential water shortages for its 22 million residents. The report also noted glacier loss that threatens water supplies for roughly 90 million people living along the Andes from Colombia to Chile and Argentina.

WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo said during an online press conference that the extremes represent "unmistakable signs" of continuing climate change. 8 billion in economic losses.

The report estimated 13,000 annual heat-attributable deaths across 17 countries, though the figure is likely an underestimate because many nations do not publish heat mortality data. 5 degrees Fahrenheit per decade from 1991 to 2025, the fastest rate since record-keeping began around 1900.

Regina Célia dos Santos Alvalá, director of Brazil's National Center for Monitoring and Alerts for Natural Disasters, said collaboration among countries is needed to improve early warning systems. Brazil has expanded its monitoring network from about 1,000 to 2,000 municipalities and plans to increase automated river gages from about 1,000 to 5,000 sites within a few years.