How climate change affects typhoons in Southeast Asia
Study finds that storms are forming closer to coasts and lasting longer over land, posing risks to the millions who live in the region
Typhoons have a few different names; in other places, they may be called hurricanes. Photo: ShutterstockAccording to a joint scientific study released in July, typhoons in Southeast Asia are forming closer to coastlines, intensifying more rapidly, and lasting longer over land due to climate change.
The study’s statement underscores the urgency of the situation, warning that 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.”
The study, conducted by a team of researchers from Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore, alongside Rowan University and the University of Pennsylvania in the United States, is a comprehensive analysis of “more than 64,000 modelled historic and future storms from the 19th century through the end of the 21st century”.
The study, published in the peer-reviewed Nature partner journal Climate and Atmospheric Science, highlights the significant changes in tropical cyclone behaviours in Southeast Asia and underscores the gravity of the situation.
The changes include “increased formation near coastlines and slower movement over land, which could pose new risks to the region”, the statement said.
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Climate change has caused ocean waters to warm, which can alter the paths of tropical storms in the region, the statement said. The area is home to more than 650 million people, and the warming of oceans is a key factor in the increased frequency and intensity of typhoons in Southeast Asia.
“Our study shows that as the cyclones travel across warmer oceans, they pull in more water vapour and heat,” said Benjamin Horton, director of NTU’s Earth Observatory of Singapore and a co-author of the research. “That means stronger winds, heavier rainfall, and more flooding when the typhoons hit land.”
Lead author Andra Garner of Rowan University’s School of Earth and Environment said people living along the region’s densely populated coastlines were the most vulnerable.
“There were two takeaways: First, we should reduce emissions so we can curb the impacts of future storms,” Garner said. “Second, we should act now to protect those coastlines, which will likely see worse impacts of tropical cyclones, regardless of future emissions.”
Parts of Asia are still reeling from the impact of Typhoon Yagi earlier this month. With peak wind speeds of at least 203km/h, Yagi was the second most powerful tropical cyclone in the world so far this year, after July’s Hurricane Beryl. Yagi caused widespread destruction, particularly in northern Vietnam and Thailand, where many farms and villages were severely flooded and in danger of landslides. In Vietnam, the death toll was at least 226.
Heavy rains from Typhoon Gaemi in late July caused flooding in Manila, the capital of the Philippines, and parts of Kaohsiung, Taiwan. It was the strongest typhoon to hit Taiwan in eight years and left at least five people dead and hundreds injured.
Agence France-Presse
What is the difference between a typhoon and a hurricane?
Hurricanes and typhoons are just different names for the same kind of storm. The names we use for these storms depend on where they happen.
In the North Atlantic and Northeast Pacific oceans, they are called hurricanes. In the Northwest Pacific, they are called typhoons. Meanwhile, in the South Pacific and Indian oceans, they are called tropical cyclones, severe tropical cyclones or severe cyclonic storms.
These storms are caused by high humidity and ocean temperatures higher than 26 degrees Celsius. Scientists give typhoons names so they can be tracked more easily.