Deadly typhoon Gaemi made worse by climate change, scientists say

Typhoon Gaemi’s wind speeds were around 14kmh more intense and its rainfall up to 14 per cent higher as a result of warmer sea temperatures, according to scientists in a report from World Weather Attribution, an alliance of researchers that analyse the relationship between climate change and extreme weather.

“With global temperatures rising, we are already witnessing an increase in these ocean temperatures, and as a result, more powerful fuel is being made available for these tropical cyclones, increasing their intensity,” Nadia Bloemendaal, researcher at the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute, told a briefing on Wednesday ahead of the report’s release.

At the same briefing, Clair Barnes, research associate at London’s Grantham Institute, said typhoons were now 30 per cent more likely to occur compared to the pre-industrial age, warning that they will become even more common and intense if global temperature increases reach 2 degrees Celsius.

East Asia is accustomed to extreme weather, but its flood prevention infrastructure and emergency response planning are coming under increasing pressure, said Maja Vahlberg, a climate risk consultant with the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre.

“Even our best efforts are being stretched to their limits,” she said.