BRASILIA, Brazil (CMC) — The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) on Tuesday said that record-breaking heat, persistent drought, extreme rainfall and devastating tropical cyclones had impacted communities and economies throughout Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) in 2025.

In its “State of the Climate in Latin America and the Caribbean in 2025” report, the WMO said that melting glaciers led to an upsurge in short-term hazards like floods and long-term water security risk.

The WMO noted that along Atlantic-facing coasts, sea level is rising faster than the global average in parts of the tropical Atlantic and Caribbean.

It said continuing ocean acidification and warming are compounding risks to marine ecosystems and fisheries.

“The signs of a changing climate are unmistakable across Latin America and the Caribbean, from accelerating glacier loss and rising sea levels to rapidly intensifying tropical cyclones, extreme heat, floods and drought,” said WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo.

“This report shows that while risks are growing, so too is our capacity to anticipate and act to save lives and protect livelihoods,” she said.

This was exemplified by Hurricane Melissa in October 2025, the first category five hurricane on record to make landfall in Jamaica. It led to 45 deaths and economic losses of approximately US$8.8 billion, more than 41 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP).

The WMO said that even though Melissa had no historical precedent, Jamaican authorities used high-quality risk modelling to inform advanced financial measures and disaster preparedness which limited the human toll and helped the island cope.

The WMO said that for LAC, another major risk is from extreme heat, which is posing an increasing public health burden.

In 2025, recurrent and intense heatwaves with temperatures well above 40°C affected large parts of North, Central and South America. The WMO said there is a pressing need to embed climate intelligence into health planning and emergency preparedness, and to integrate meteorological early warnings with public health triggers.

“Many countries do not routinely publish cause-specific heat mortality data. It is estimated that there were approximately 13,000 heat-attributable deaths annually (average across 17 countries from 2012 to 2021).

“This suggests a significant underestimate of heat-related mortality and there is a need for improved reporting,” according to the report, which also examines how agro-food systems are exposed to extreme weather and climate shocks, with simultaneous impacts on agricultural production, rural livelihoods, access to food, and market functioning.

The State of the Climate in Latin America and the Caribbean provides authoritative information on key climate indicators, impacts and risks and on major regional extreme events, including tropical cyclones, heatwaves, heavy rainfall and drought, and cold waves.

“These findings are deeply concerning. But they also show why our work matters. Climate information is not only about data. It is about people,” said Saulo.

“It is about protecting communities from floods, droughts, hurricanes, heatwaves and other hazards. It is about farmers planning their crops, health authorities preparing for heat-related risks and coastal communities planning for rising seas,” she said.

She said the report is not only a scientific publication. It is a call to action, but “calls on us to strengthen observations, invest in services, close early warning gaps, and ensure that climate information reaches those who need it most”.

Of the four 30-year periods assessed in the report, the period 1991–2025 shows the strongest warming trend since datasets began in 1900: about 0.26°C per decade across South America, and 0.25 °C per decade across Central America and the Caribbean. Mexico experienced the fastest warming rate, about 0.34 °C per decade from 1991 to 2025.

The average annual mean surface temperature in 2025 ranked between the fifth and eighth warmest on record.

In the last 50 years or so, rainfall in Latin America and the Caribbean has become more extreme — swinging between drought and deluge and with longer dry spells and more intense wet events.

Heavy rainfall events have increased in Central America and in northern South America, while Central Chile, north-east Brazil and some areas of Central America and the Caribbean are becoming drier.

The Amazon region is a mixed picture, with longer dry seasons, stronger wet-season extremes and increased drought frequency in the southern and eastern Amazon.

The WMO report stated that Andean glaciers form a critical water tower for approximately 90 million people, supplying freshwater for domestic consumption, hydroelectric power, agriculture and industry.

It said recent global glacier mass balance datasets show accelerating losses in the high-mountain southern Andes, as well as tropical glaciers in low-latitude regions like Colombia and Ecuador.

Extreme marine heatwaves occurred in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, and in the ocean area adjacent to Chile. Along Atlantic-facing coasts, rates of sea level rise are exceeding the global average in parts of the tropical Atlantic and the Caribbean.