“Rising sea levels, higher temperatures, and increased frequency of typhoons and extreme weather events can cause floods, landslides, and erosion that pollute water resources”
CLIMATOLOGISTS have pointed their finger at human-induced climate change they say is driving an increase in global temperatures.
They point to recent typhoons like Gaemi (local name Carina) which lashed the Philippines before rampaging through Taiwan, Japan and the Korean Peninsula before whacking the eastern shoreline of China with record rainfall in many of the areas whacked or floodwaters running berserk for days.
But what is climate change, the whipping boy for rising temperatures worldwide, including East Asia and Southeast Asia on the western side of the Pacific from which the tropical cyclones originate?
Climate change refers to long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns, which shifts may be natural, but since the 1800s, human activities have been the main driver of climate change, primarily due to the burning of fossil fuels (like coal, oil and gas), which produce heat-trapping gases.
Considering the population of both regions – East Asia:1.65 billion as of Aug. 15, 2024, based on the latest United Nations estimates, which is 20.29 percent of the total world population and Southeast Asia: 675 million – fright from damage is a nightmare.
Climatologists say warmer temperatures provide favorable conditions for typhoons to become more hazardous, as the higher humidity in warmer air and the warmer sea surface temperatures could lead to stronger tropical storms
Prior to the typhoons, East Asia experienced record breaking temperatures during the heatwaves in June 2023.
Beijing recorded its hottest June day since record keeping began in 1961, with temperatures reaching 41.1°C.
South Korea also experienced a heatwave in recent weeks, with some parts of the country recording temperatures exceeding 38°C. Typhoon Khanun has since struck South Korea, bringing heavy rain and winds.
A joint scientific study released in Singapore said typhoons in Southeast Asia are forming closer to coastlines, intensifying more rapidly and lasting longer over land due to climate change.
Coastal communities and cities like Hai Phong in Vietnam and the Thai capital Bangkok are “facing unprecedented threats from longer lasting and more intense storms,” a statement about the study said.
Researchers from the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore and Rowan University and the University of Pennsylvania in the United States analyzed “more than 64,000 modeled historic and future storms from the 19th century through the end of the 21st century” to come up with the findings, the statement said.
Published in the peer-reviewed Nature partner journal Climate and Atmospheric Science, the study “highlights significant changes in tropical cyclone behaviors in Southeast Asia.”
The changes include “increased formation near coastlines and slower movement over land, which could pose new risks to the region”, the statement said.
“That means stronger wind, heavier rainfall, and more flooding when the typhoons hit land.”
In July, intense rains from Caina caused heavy flooding in Metro Manila and parts of Kaohsiung in Taiwan.
It was the strongest typhoon to hit Taiwan in eight years, and left at least five people dead and hundreds injured.
In the Philippines, it exacerbated seasonal rains and triggered flooding and landslides that killed at least 30 people.
Carina’s destructive wrath was distributed as: 44.62 per cent affecting irrigation systems, 26.86 percent impacting rice, 19.01 percent affecting fisheries, and 9.50 percent involving corn, high-value crops, livestock, and poultry.
The Department of Agriculture reported losses totaling 30,644 metric tons, impacting 93,156 farmers and fisherfolk across 56,839 hectares, of which 72.91 percent still have a chance of recovery.
Ecperts say these stronger typhoons carry more moisture, track differently, move faster and will be aggravated by sea level rise, one of the most certain consequences of climate change.
Rising sea levels, higher temperatures, and increased frequency of typhoons and extreme weather events can cause floods, landslides, and erosion that pollute water resources, damage infrastructure, destroy crops, and lead to loss of lives and livelihoods.
But why is the Philippines prone to typhoons?
This archipelagic country of 115 million is just above the equator and faces the western Pacific, with little else to absorb the energy of storms – fueled by the warm tropical waters which produce roughly 30 typhoons each year – before they hit land.
With the exception of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, the multiple natural hazards facing the Philippines are projected to intensify under climate change, including sea-level rise, increased frequency of extreme weather events, rising temperatures, and extreme rainfall.
