2015-07-18 18:59:00

Storm season begins in East Asia


(Vatican Radio) A typhoon last week left two people dead and dozens injured in Japan. The storm season in East Asia is just beginning, with several expected to strike in the next few weeks.

Listen to Alastair Wanklyn’s report:

Typhoon Nangka brought heavy wind and rain to south-western Japan. Two people died. Authorities advised around half million people to seek shelter in sturdy public buildings like schools.

A separate storm this month left at least five people dead in the Philippines. It then struck south-eastern China, where authorities urged around a million people to seek shelter.

Typhoons hit East Asia every summer, but by some measurements this year the storm season began earlier than usual.

On Thursday, a study in the United States of weather last year said the world's seas were warmer than usual, particularly in the northern Pacific.

The U.S. government survey of research worldwide said the rise of 2 to 3 degrees could accelerate violent weather patterns and make polar ice melt at a faster rate -- threatening coastal communities and nations with weak infrastructure.

It said the trend is probably unstoppable. One of the report's authors was quoted saying, climate change is like a freight train. Once it is moving it will continue to do so long after mankind has ceased pushing it.

Meanwhile, here in East Asia nations are bracing for more storms to strike. Meteorologists say the past two weeks nine storms formed in the tropical Pacific.








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