BENGALURU – Recent devastating floods and landslides across Asia have been fueled by rising ocean temperatures attributed to human-induced climate change, according to a new report released on Wednesday.
An urgent analysis conducted by World Weather Attribution examined the heavy rainfall brought by cyclones Senyar and Ditwah, which affected Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, and Sri Lanka starting late last month. The study revealed that elevated sea surface temperatures in the North Indian Ocean provided additional energy to these cyclones.
The resulting floods and landslides have claimed the lives of over 1,600 individuals, with many more still unaccounted for. These cyclones are part of a string of catastrophic weather events that have wreaked havoc across Southeast Asia this year, causing both human and economic losses.
“We are used to heavy rains here, but this is unprecedented. Typically, the rains cease by September, but this year has been exceptionally severe. Every part of Sri Lanka has felt the impact, and our area has suffered the most,” shared Shanmugavadivu Arunachalam, a 59-year-old educator from the mountainous town of Hatton in Sri Lanka’s Central Province.
According to the WWA researchers, sea surface temperatures in the North Indian Ocean have risen by 0.2 degrees Celsius (0.3 degrees Fahrenheit) compared to the average of the past 30 years.
Sea surface temperatures over the North Indian Ocean were 0.2 degrees Celsius (0.3 degrees Fahrenheit) higher than the average over the past three decades, according to the WWA researchers.
Without global warming, the sea surface temperatures would have been about 1 degree Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit) colder than they were, according to the analysis. The warmer ocean temperatures provided heat and moisture to the storms.
When measuring overall temperatures, the world is currently 1.3 degrees Celsius (2.6 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than global average during pre-industrial times in the 19th century, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
“When the atmosphere warms, it can hold more moisture. As a result, it rains more in a warmer atmosphere as compared to a world without climate change,” said Mariam Zachariah, with the Centre for Environmental Policy at Imperial College London and one of the report’s authors.
Using tested methods to measure climate impacts quickly
The WWA is a collection of researchers who use peer-reviewed methods to conduct rapid studies examining how extreme weather events are linked to climate change.
“Anytime we decide to do a study, we know what is the procedure that we have to follow,” said Zachariah, who added that they review the findings in house and send some of their analysis for peer review, even after an early version is made public.
The speed at which the WWA releases their analysis helps inform the general public about the impacts of climate change, according to Zachariah.
“We want people everywhere to know about why something happened in their neighborhood,” Zachariah said. “But also be aware about the reasons behind some of the events unfurling across the world.”
The WWA often estimates how much worse climate change made a disaster using specific probabilities. In this case, though, the researchers said they could not estimate the precise contribution of climate change to the storms and ensuing heavy rains because of limitations in climate models for the affected islands.
Climate change boosts Asia’s unusually heavy rainfall
Global warming is a “powerful amplifier” to the deadly floods, typhoons and landslides that have ravaged Asia this year, said Jemilah Mahmood, with the Sunway Centre for Planetary Health, a Malaysia-based think tank that was not involved with the WWA analysis.
“The region and the world have been on this path because, for decades, economic development was prioritized over climate stability,” Mahmood said. “It’s created an accumulated planetary debt, and this has resulted in the crisis we face.”
The analysis found that across the affected countries, rapid urbanization, high population density and infrastructure in low lying flood plains have elevated exposure to flood events.
“The human toll from cyclones Ditwah and Senyar is staggering,” said Maja Vahlberg, a technical adviser with the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre. “Unfortunately, it is the most vulnerable people who experience the worst impacts and have the longest road to recovery.”
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Follow Sibi Arasu on X at @sibi123.
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Delgado reported from Bangkok, Thailand.
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