El Nino is making the Pacific ‘burn with fever’, triggering typhoon after typhoon in East Asia

In August, Typhoon Chan-Hom baffled storm watchers in Japan by crossing the country from east to west, as opposed to the usual south-to-north trajectory. Japan’s well-resourced and prepared authorities were able to evacuate people swiftly, but this would be far more challenging in some neighbouring countries.

To get a better picture of how rising temperatures could amplify the risks, Manila-based climatologist Rafaela Jane Delfino and colleagues simulated the effects of warmer conditions on the Philippines’ most recent monster storms, including 2013’s Super Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) which killed more than 6,000 people.

They arrived at what she describes as “very, very scary findings”: higher temperatures increased total accumulated rainfall by 26%. It’s a devastating prospect in a country where flooding from monsoon rains and some 20 tropical storms per year has emerged as one of the main disaster risks.

In recent years, floods have paralysed entire cities for days, and tired of the annual ordeal, Filipinos have taken to the streets to protest against corruption which they say is gnawing away at millions of dollars from flood-control projects.

Delfino, in an article on the University of the Philippines website, insists leaders and officials must gain a better understanding of climate hazards if communities are to be better prepared.