A group of scientists has revealed that climate change amplified the destructive winds and rainfall of Typhoon Gaemi, which led to the deaths of dozens earlier this year across the Philippines, Taiwan, and China. According to a study released by World Weather Attribution (WWA), a network of scientists focused on assessing the role of climate change in extreme weather events, the typhoon’s wind speeds and rainfall were significantly intensified due to human-induced climate change.
Typhoon Gaemi, which occurred in July, caused severe flooding and landslides in the Philippines, resulting in at least 40 fatalities. The storm then made landfall in Taiwan and China, where it unleashed torrential downpours, killing 50 people and forcing the evacuation of 300,000 in China.
The WWA study specifically examined the three regions most severely affected by the typhoon: the northern Philippines, Taiwan, and China’s Hunan province. The findings revealed that the typhoon’s wind speeds were 7% stronger due to climate change, while rainfall increased by 14% in Taiwan and 9% in Hunan. However, the study could not definitively determine the impact of climate change on rainfall in the Philippines due to the region’s complex monsoon patterns.
The scientists highlighted that the warm seas, which contributed to the formation and intensification of Typhoon Gaemi, “would have been virtually impossible” without the current global temperature increase of 1.2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. The study also noted that this warming has already increased the occurrence of similarly powerful storms by 30%, from around five to six or seven per year.
“This study confirms what we’ve expected—hotter seas and atmospheres are giving rise to more powerful, longer-lived, and deadlier typhoons,” said Ralf Toumi, director of the Grantham Institute-Climate Change and the Environment at Imperial College London.
The research emphasized the need for improved urban flood management and more targeted storm warnings to mitigate the impacts of future typhoons. The release of the study coincided with Typhoon Shanshan’s landfall in Japan, which prompted the highest level of warning for wind and storm surges.
