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Invasive species are thriving thanks to climate change while worsening global heating

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Wednesday, July 24, 2024

From Burmese pythons and European starlings to zebra mussels and Great Lake lampreys, the United States is in the midst of an invasive species crisis, impacting local environments both on the land and in the water. There are a number of factors making this problem worse, but foremost among them is climate change. Dr. Robert C. Venette, a research biologist and director of the Minnesota Invasive Terrestrial Plants and Pests Center, is paying close attention to multiple invasive species, including "several bark beetles, emerald ash borer, spotted lanternfly, hemlock wooly adelgid, oak wilt, Palmer amaranth and Japanese knotweed, among others." But figuring out exactly how much damage they will do — and what that means for the future of the environment — isn't an easy task. "We are still witnessing the effects of climate changes that have already happened." "Forecasting which invasive species will be a concern is incredibly complex," Venette told Salon. "As temperatures warm, I expect that many invasive insects, pathogens and weeds will begin to occur farther north than they have previously. Some invasive species will be active earlier in spring and summer than they have normally. Lastly, some of these invasive species may become more abundant than they have been." Dr. Chelcy Miniat, a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) biologist at their Rocky Mountain Research Station, identified a few variables that can help determine which species will thrive and which ones will not survive as global temperatures continue to rise. "Scientists have identified some general factors that that could influence the consequences of climate change for a given invasive species at a given location," Miniat said. These include "direct effects of climate change on individual species," as well as "indirect effects that alter nutrients, water, or other resources available or interactions with other species or hosts" and "other factors such as human influences that can alter the environment for an invasive species, making it both harder or easier to invade." Miniat pointed to one of the most comprehensive summaries published in 2021 that covers knowledge of invasive species in the U.S., using the expertise of over 100 leaders in invasive species research. From that report, scientists determined that the invasive vine Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica) is expanding its northern range in Eastern North America due to changing climatic conditions or that more broadly roughly 15% of invasive species can adapt and shift their ranges or environmental conditions outside of the climatic conditions in their new ranges. Zebra Mussel (Getty Images/Ed Reschke) By contrast Dr. Rob Progar — an entomologist and pathologist at the USDA's Sustainable Forest Management Research — told Salon that one problem with invasive species is that they reduce humanity's ability to adapt to the environmental impacts of climate change. "The long-lasting and devastating impacts of invasive species reduce climate change resilience by altering ecosystem structure and function," Progar said. "Changing climate can also impact forest ecosystems by increasing stress due to increased temperature extremes, drought or high levels of precipitation. These stressors can render tree species more vulnerable to infection by disease, or non-native insects." According to Progar, societies must prepare by integrating invasive species management into their climate change adaptation plans. "Increase support for national and regional networks and programs working at the intersection of climate change and invasive species," Progar said. "Ensure early detection, rapid response and safeguarding strategies account for up-to-date climate data, projections and models. Increase investment for long-term management of invasive species that threaten climate preparedness and resilience." Want more health and science stories in your inbox? Subscribe to Salon's weekly newsletter Lab Notes. "Reporting new finds of invasive species is incredibly important." Miniat says that there will need to be "strong collaborative partnerships between scientists, managers, landowners, [Indigenous] tribes and public and private agencies at local, regional, national and even global scales." Importantly "citizen science has a role to play in this as well. Because early detection is an important threshold in the response process, if people see an invasive species, reporting it is incredibly helpful. There are apps like EDDMaps that allow people to upload or record sightings of invasive species. These type of data can then be used by researchers to model invasive species spread." One example of a species monitored through these methods is Canada's mountain pine beetle. Although native to western Canada, as winters have warmed it has spread beyond its native range, to the point where they can live in areas that previously would've been deadly for them. The beetles destroy pine trees, threatening them across Canada, where environmental agencies urge vigilant citizens to monitor them — including in the United States. As more trees die from invasive species, their ability to capture and store large amounts of atmospheric carbon — which helps offset the impacts of climate change — is diminished, creating a negative feedback loop. "A [Mountain pine beetle] outbreak could turn Canada’s forests from a carbon sink to a carbon source, as killed trees release stored carbon back into the atmosphere – further accelerating climate change," Progar said. At the same time, Progar said that people must "reduce nature-based solutions like carbon sequestration. We need to increase coastal communities' resilience to storms, erosion, flooding, and biodiversity loss. Together, invasive species and climate change can interact to degrade natural and built infrastructure resilience, impacting rural and urban communities. We should actively work to mitigate these impacts." Venette also encouraged people to stay vigilant in monitoring for invasive species. "Reporting new finds of invasive species is incredibly important," Venette said. "Free cell phone apps, like iNaturalist, make it pretty easy, even for amateurs," Venette said. "Knowing where invasive species are is a critical first step before management plans can be developed." He also expressed optimism that, despite the damage done so far by climate change, many cherished ecosystems can still be saved. "We are still witnessing the effects of climate changes that have already happened," Venette said. "If future climate change is limited, we would expect to slow the rate of change in some ecosystems, either through species losses or additions. As a result, we would hope those ecosystems would retain their core structure and function." Read more about climate change

From disease-carrying insects to ecosystem-choking plants, invasive species flourish due to burning fossil fuels

From Burmese pythons and European starlings to zebra mussels and Great Lake lampreys, the United States is in the midst of an invasive species crisis, impacting local environments both on the land and in the water. There are a number of factors making this problem worse, but foremost among them is climate change.

Dr. Robert C. Venette, a research biologist and director of the Minnesota Invasive Terrestrial Plants and Pests Center, is paying close attention to multiple invasive species, including "several bark beetles, emerald ash borer, spotted lanternfly, hemlock wooly adelgid, oak wilt, Palmer amaranth and Japanese knotweed, among others." But figuring out exactly how much damage they will do — and what that means for the future of the environment — isn't an easy task.

"We are still witnessing the effects of climate changes that have already happened."

"Forecasting which invasive species will be a concern is incredibly complex," Venette told Salon. "As temperatures warm, I expect that many invasive insects, pathogens and weeds will begin to occur farther north than they have previously. Some invasive species will be active earlier in spring and summer than they have normally. Lastly, some of these invasive species may become more abundant than they have been."

Dr. Chelcy Miniat, a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) biologist at their Rocky Mountain Research Station, identified a few variables that can help determine which species will thrive and which ones will not survive as global temperatures continue to rise.

"Scientists have identified some general factors that that could influence the consequences of climate change for a given invasive species at a given location," Miniat said. These include "direct effects of climate change on individual species," as well as "indirect effects that alter nutrients, water, or other resources available or interactions with other species or hosts" and "other factors such as human influences that can alter the environment for an invasive species, making it both harder or easier to invade."

Miniat pointed to one of the most comprehensive summaries published in 2021 that covers knowledge of invasive species in the U.S., using the expertise of over 100 leaders in invasive species research. From that report, scientists determined that the invasive vine Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica) is expanding its northern range in Eastern North America due to changing climatic conditions or that more broadly roughly 15% of invasive species can adapt and shift their ranges or environmental conditions outside of the climatic conditions in their new ranges.

Zebra MusselZebra Mussel (Getty Images/Ed Reschke)

By contrast Dr. Rob Progar — an entomologist and pathologist at the USDA's Sustainable Forest Management Research — told Salon that one problem with invasive species is that they reduce humanity's ability to adapt to the environmental impacts of climate change.

"The long-lasting and devastating impacts of invasive species reduce climate change resilience by altering ecosystem structure and function," Progar said. "Changing climate can also impact forest ecosystems by increasing stress due to increased temperature extremes, drought or high levels of precipitation. These stressors can render tree species more vulnerable to infection by disease, or non-native insects."

According to Progar, societies must prepare by integrating invasive species management into their climate change adaptation plans.

"Increase support for national and regional networks and programs working at the intersection of climate change and invasive species," Progar said. "Ensure early detection, rapid response and safeguarding strategies account for up-to-date climate data, projections and models. Increase investment for long-term management of invasive species that threaten climate preparedness and resilience."

Want more health and science stories in your inbox? Subscribe to Salon's weekly newsletter Lab Notes.

"Reporting new finds of invasive species is incredibly important."

Miniat says that there will need to be "strong collaborative partnerships between scientists, managers, landowners, [Indigenous] tribes and public and private agencies at local, regional, national and even global scales." Importantly "citizen science has a role to play in this as well. Because early detection is an important threshold in the response process, if people see an invasive species, reporting it is incredibly helpful. There are apps like EDDMaps that allow people to upload or record sightings of invasive species. These type of data can then be used by researchers to model invasive species spread."

One example of a species monitored through these methods is Canada's mountain pine beetle. Although native to western Canada, as winters have warmed it has spread beyond its native range, to the point where they can live in areas that previously would've been deadly for them. The beetles destroy pine trees, threatening them across Canada, where environmental agencies urge vigilant citizens to monitor them — including in the United States.

As more trees die from invasive species, their ability to capture and store large amounts of atmospheric carbon — which helps offset the impacts of climate change — is diminished, creating a negative feedback loop.

"A [Mountain pine beetle] outbreak could turn Canada’s forests from a carbon sink to a carbon source, as killed trees release stored carbon back into the atmosphere – further accelerating climate change," Progar said. At the same time, Progar said that people must "reduce nature-based solutions like carbon sequestration. We need to increase coastal communities' resilience to storms, erosion, flooding, and biodiversity loss. Together, invasive species and climate change can interact to degrade natural and built infrastructure resilience, impacting rural and urban communities. We should actively work to mitigate these impacts."

Venette also encouraged people to stay vigilant in monitoring for invasive species.

"Reporting new finds of invasive species is incredibly important," Venette said. "Free cell phone apps, like iNaturalist, make it pretty easy, even for amateurs," Venette said. "Knowing where invasive species are is a critical first step before management plans can be developed."

He also expressed optimism that, despite the damage done so far by climate change, many cherished ecosystems can still be saved.

"We are still witnessing the effects of climate changes that have already happened," Venette said. "If future climate change is limited, we would expect to slow the rate of change in some ecosystems, either through species losses or additions. As a result, we would hope those ecosystems would retain their core structure and function."

Read more

about climate change

Read the full story here.
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Takeaways From AP’s Report on Potential Impacts of Alaska’s Proposed Ambler Access Road

A proposed mining road in Northwest Alaska has sparked debate amid climate change impacts

AMBLER, Alaska (AP) — In Northwest Alaska, a proposed mining road has become a flashpoint in a region already stressed by climate change. The 211-mile (340-kilometer) Ambler Access Road would cut through Gates of the Arctic National Park and cross 11 major rivers and thousands of streams relied on for salmon and caribou. The Trump administration approved the project this fall, setting off concerns over how the Inupiaq subsistence way of life can survive amid rapid environmental change. Many fear the road could push the ecosystem past a breaking point yet also recognize the need for jobs. A strategically important mineral deposit The Ambler Mining District holds one of the largest undeveloped sources of copper, zinc, lead, silver and gold in North America. Demand for minerals used in renewable energy is expected to grow, though most copper mined in the U.S. currently goes to construction — not green technologies. Critics say the road raises broader questions about who gets to decide the terms of mineral extraction on Indigenous lands. Climate change has already devastated subsistence resources Northwest Alaska is warming about four times faster than the global average — a shift that has already upended daily life. The Western Arctic Caribou Herd, once nearly half a million strong, has fallen 66% in two decades to around 164,000 animals. Warmer temperatures delay cold and snow, disrupting migration routes and keeping caribou high in the Brooks Range where hunters can’t easily reach them.Salmon runs have suffered repeated collapses as record rainfall, warmer rivers and thawing permafrost transform once-clear streams. In some areas, permafrost thaw has released metals into waterways, adding to the stress on already fragile fish populations.“Elders who’ve lived here their entire lives have never seen environmental conditions like this,” one local environmental official said. The road threatens what remains The Ambler road would cross a vast, largely undisturbed region to reach major deposits of copper, zinc and other minerals. Building it would require nearly 50 bridges, thousands of culverts and more than 100 truck trips a day during peak operations. Federal biologists warn naturally occurring asbestos could be kicked up by passing trucks and settle onto waterways and vegetation that caribou rely on. The Bureau of Land Management designated some 1.2 million acres of nearby salmon spawning and caribou calving habitat as “critical environmental concern.”Mining would draw large volumes of water from lakes and rivers, disturb permafrost and rely on a tailings facility to hold toxic slurry. With record rainfall becoming more common, downstream communities fear contamination of drinking water and traditional foods.Locals also worry the road could eventually open to the public, inviting outside hunters into an already stressed ecosystem. Many point to Alaska’s Dalton Highway, which opened to public use despite earlier promises it would remain private.Ambler Metals, the company behind the mining project, says it uses proven controls for work in permafrost and will treat all water the mine has contact with to strict standards. The company says it tracks precipitation to size facilities for heavier rainfall. A potential economic lifeline For some, the mine represents opportunity in a region where gasoline can cost nearly $18 a gallon and basic travel for hunting has become prohibitively expensive. Supporters argue mining jobs could help people stay in their villages, which face some of the highest living costs in the country.Ambler mayor Conrad Douglas summed up the tension: “I don’t really know how much the state of Alaska is willing to jeopardize our way of life, but the people do need jobs.”The Associated Press receives support from the Walton Family Foundation for coverage of water and environmental policy. The AP is solely responsible for all content. For all of AP’s environmental coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environmentCopyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Photos You Should See – December 2025

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New York’s Environmental Agenda Stalls Under Kathy Hochul

Faced with an affordability crisis and rising energy demands, Gov. Kathy Hochul has slowed progress on New York’s efforts to fight climate change.

Faced with an affordability crisis and rising energy demands, Gov. Kathy Hochul has slowed progress on New York’s efforts to fight climate change.

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How a species of bamboo could help protect the South from future floods

In the face of mounting climate disasters, tribes, scientists, and Southern communities are rallying around a nearly forgotten native plant.

In early 2024, Michael Fedoroff trekked out to Tuckabum Creek in York County, Alabama. The environmental anthropologist was there to help plant 300 stalks of rivercane, a bamboo plant native to North America, on an eroded, degraded strip of wetland: a “gnarly” and “wicked” area, according to Fedoroff. If successful, this planting would be the largest cane restoration project in Alabama history. He and his team got the stalks into the ground, buttressed them with hay, left, and hoped for the best.  A few days later, rains swept through the area and the river rose by 9 feet. “We were terrified,” said Fedoroff. He and his team raced back to the site, expecting to find bare dirt. Instead, they found that the rivercane had survived — and so, crucially, had the stream bank. Rivercane used to line the streams, rivers, and bogs of the Southeast from the Blue Ridge Mountains down to the Mississippi Delta. Thick yellow stalks and feathery leaves reached as high as 20 feet into the sky, so dense that riders on horseback would travel around rather than venturing through. In the ground underneath cane stands, rhizomes — gnarled stems just below the soil surface — extended out to cover acres.  When Europeans settled the land that would become North Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, and Alabama, they ripped up trees and vegetation to make way for agriculture and development. Pigs ate rivercane rhizomes and cows munched on developing shoots. Now, thanks to this dramatic upheaval in the landscape, more than 98 percent of rivercane is gone. Of those plentiful dense stands, called canebrakes, only about 12 are left in the whole nation, according to Fedoroff.  But as the Tuckabum Creek project demonstrated, rivercane was an essential bulwark against the ravages of floods. That vast network of tough underground stems kept soil and stream banks in place more effectively than other vegetation, even when rivers ran high. And as the South faces mounting climate-fueled disasters, like Hurricane Helene last year, a small and dedicated network of scientists, volunteers, Native stakeholders, and landowners is working to bring this plant back.  During Helene, the few waterways that were lined by rivercane fared much better than those that weren’t, said Adam Griffith, a rivercane expert at an NC Cooperative Extension outpost in Cherokee. “I saw the devastation of the rivers,” said Griffith. He had considered stepping back from his involvement in rivercane restoration, but recommitted himself after the hurricane. “If the native vegetation had been there, the stream bank would have been in much better shape,” he said.  Rivercane growing along the Cane River in Yancey County, North Carolina, created an “island” where it held the stream bank in place during Hurricane Helene. These photos show the river before and after the storm. Adam Griffith These enthusiasts are ushering in a “cane renaissance,” according to Fedoroff, who directs the University of Alabama program that hosts the Rivercane Restoration Alliance, or RRA, a network of pro-rivercane groups. The RRA and its allies are replanting rivercane where it once flourished, maintaining existing canebrakes and stands, and educating landowners and the general public on cane’s benefits. In addition to those rhizomes saving waterways from devastating erosion, rivercane also provides crucial habitat to native species, such as cane-feeding moths, and filters nitrate and other pollutants from water.  “When people grow to accept cane into their hearts, beautiful things happen,” said Fedoroff, whose team now has a $3.8 million grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to work on rivercane projects in 12 states throughout the Southeast.  Large restoration projects like this often involve collaboration with many major stakeholders: The Tuckabum Creek project, for example, looped in the RRA, the lumber and land management company Westervelt, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. Rivercane enthusiasts stressed that consulting with and including tribes is essential in returning this plant to the landscape. Not only does rivercane bring ecological benefits, it also holds a cultural role for tribes — one that’s been lost as the plant declined.   Historically, Native peoples in the Southeast used rivercane to make things like baskets, blow guns, and arrows, but nowadays, many artisans have turned to synthetic materials for these crafts, said Ryan Spring, a historian and a member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma.  When Spring started his job at the tribe 14 years ago, no one knew much about rivercane ecology, he said. Now, Spring is actively involved in recentering rivercane in the cultural and ecological landscape. “We’re building up community, taking them out, teaching them ecology,” Spring said. “A lot are basket makers, and now they’re using rivercane to make baskets for the first time.” In mature patches of cane, the high density of roots and rhizomes helps keep soils in place during floods. EBCI Cooperative Extension There are challenges to the dream of returning rivercane to its former prolific glory in the Southeast. One is education: For example, rivercane is often confused for invasive Chinese bamboo, which means that landowners and managers generally don’t think twice before removing it. Another barrier to restoration efforts is the cost and availability of rivercane plants. They’re not easy to find in nurseries, and can run between $50 and $60 per plant or more, according to Laura Young of the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation.  But Young has found a way around this problem. She does habitat and riverbank restoration in southeastern Virginia, and six years ago, she wanted to plant a canebrake along a river near the tiny town of Jonesville. The cost was prohibitive, and so Young pioneered a method now known colloquially as the “cane train.” She gathered pieces of cane rhizome, planted them in soil-filled sandwich bags, then started a canebrake with the propagated cuttings — all for $6.  Fedoroff pointed out that the cane train method has one major drawback: Different varieties of rivercane are better suited for, say, wet spots or sunny spots, so transplanting cuttings that thrived in one area could result in a bunch of dead plants in another. At his lab, researchers are working on sequencing rivercane genomes so they can compare different plants’ traits and choose the best varieties for different locations. But, Young added, while the propagation method is imperfect, it’s cheap, easy, and better than nothing. Out of the 200 plants in her initial project, 60 took off.  “Rivercane is kind of like investing,” she said. “It’s not get-rich-quick. You just need to invest time and money every year, and then it exponentially pays off.” The cane train also offers a low-investment way for volunteers and private landowners to get involved in stabilizing stream banks. Yancey County, North Carolina, is home to numerous streams and creeks that suffered major erosion damage during Hurricane Helene. This spring, the county government, in partnership with several state and local groups, led a cadre of volunteers in a rivercane restoration project. They harvested thousands of rhizomes, contacted landowners along the county’s devastated waterways, and planted almost 700 shoots, a process they’ll repeat in 2026. “The county really showed up,” said Keira Albert, a restoration coordinator at The Beacon Network, a disaster recovery organization that helped lead the project.  That’s part of the power of a solution like planting rivercane: It’s an actionable, easy way for ordinary landowners and volunteers to heal the landscape around them. “There’s a lot of doom and gloom when we think about climate change,” Fedoroff said. “We become paralyzed. But we’re trying to take a different approach. We can’t get back to that pristine past state, but we can envision a future ecology that’s better.” This story was originally published by Grist with the headline How a species of bamboo could help protect the South from future floods on Dec 11, 2025.

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Shell facing first UK legal claim over climate impacts of fossil fuels

Survivors of a deadly typhoon in the Philippines have filed a claim against the UK's largest oil company.

Shell facing first UK legal claim over climate impacts of fossil fuelsMatt McGrathEnvironment correspondentGetty ImagesVictims of a deadly typhoon in the Philippines have filed a legal claim against oil and gas company Shell in the UK courts, seeking compensation for what they say is the company's role in making the storm more severe.Around 400 people were killed and millions of homes hit when Typhoon Rai slammed into parts of the Philippines just before Christmas in 2021.Now a group of survivors are for the first time taking legal action against the UK's largest oil company, arguing that it had a role in making the typhoon more likely and more damaging.Shell says the claim is "baseless", as is a suggestion the company had unique knowledge that carbon emissions drove climate change.Typhoon Rai, known locally as Odette, was the most powerful storm to hit the Philippines in 2021.With winds gusting at up to 170mph (270km/h), it destroyed around 2,000 buildings, displaced hundreds of thousands of people - including Trixy Elle and her family.She was a fish vendor on Batasan island when the storm hit, forcing her from her home, barely escaping with her life."So we have to swim in the middle of big waves, heavy rains, strong winds," she told BBC News from the Philippines."That's why my father said that we will hold our hands together, if we survive, we survive, but if we will die, we will die together."Trixy is now part of the group of 67 individuals that has filed a claim that's believed to be the first case of its kind against a UK major producer of oil and gas.Getty ImagesA family take shelter in the wake of Typhoon Rai which left hundreds of thousands of people homelessIn a letter sent to Shell before the claim was filed at court, the legal team for the survivors says the case is being brought before the UK courts as that is where Shell is domiciled – but that it will apply the law of the Philippines as that is where the damage occurred.The letter argues that Shell is responsible for 2% of historical global greenhouse gases, as calculated by the Carbon Majors database of oil and gas production.The company has "materially contributed" to human driven climate change, the letter says, that made the Typhoon more likely and more severe.The survivors' group further claims that Shell has a "history of climate misinformation," and has known since 1965 that fossil fuels were the primary cause of climate change."Instead of changing their industry, they still do their business," said Trixy Elle."It's very clear that they choose profit over the people. They choose money over the planet."Getty ImagesShell's global headquarters is in London which is why the claim has been lodged at a UK courtShell denies that their production of oil and gas contributed to this individual typhoon, and they also deny any unique knowledge of climate change that they kept to themselves."This is a baseless claim, and it will not help tackle climate change or reduce emissions," a Shell spokesperson said in a statement to BBC News."The suggestion that Shell had unique knowledge about climate change is simply not true. The issue and how to tackle it has been part of public discussion and scientific research for many decades."The case is being supported by several environmental campaign groups who argue that developments in science make it now far easier to attribute individual extreme weathernevents to climate change and allows researchers to say how much of an influence emissions of warming gases had on a heatwave or storm.But proving, to the satisfaction of a court, that damages done to individuals by extreme weather events are due to the actions of specific fossil fuel producers may be a challenge."It's traditionally a high bar, but both the science and the law have lowered that bar significantly in recent years," says Harj Narulla, a barrister specialising in climate law and litigation who is not connected with the case."This is certainly a test case, but it's not the first case of its kind. So this will be the first time that UK courts will be satisfying themselves about the nature of all of that attribution science from a factual perspective."The experience in other jurisdictions is mixed.In recent years efforts to bring cases against major oil and gas producers in the United States have often failed.In Europe campaigners in the Netherlands won a major case against Shell in 2021 with the courts ordering Shell to cut its absolute carbon emissions by 45% by 2030, including those emissions that come from the use of its products.But that ruling was overturned on appeal last year.There was no legal basis for a specific cuts target, the court ruled, but it also reaffirmed Shell's duty to mitigate dangerous climate change through its policies.The UK claim has now been filed at the Royal Courts of Justice, but this is just the first step in the case brought by the Filippino survivors with more detailed particulars expected by the middle of next year.

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Ocean Warmed by Climate Change Fed Intense Rainfall and Deadly Floods in Asia, Study Finds

Ocean temperatures warmed by human-caused climate change fed the intense rainfall that triggered deadly floods and landslides across Asia in recent weeks, according to an analysis released Wednesday

BENGALURU, India (AP) — Ocean temperatures warmed by human-caused climate change fed the intense rainfall that triggered deadly floods and landslides across Asia in recent weeks, according to an analysis released Wednesday.The rapid study by World Weather Attribution focused on heavy rainfall from cyclones Senyar and Ditwah in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Sri Lanka starting late last month. The analysis found that warmer sea surface temperatures over the North Indian Ocean added energy to the cyclones.Floods and landslides triggered by the storms have killed more than 1,600 people, with hundreds more still missing. The cyclones are the latest in a series of deadly weather disasters affecting Southeast Asia this year, resulting in loss of life and property damage.“It rains a lot here but never like this. Usually, rain stops around September but this year it has been really bad. Every region of Sri Lanka has been affected, and our region has been the worst impacted,” said Shanmugavadivu Arunachalam, a 59-year-old schoolteacher in the mountain town of Hatton in Sri Lanka’s Central Province. Warmer sea surface temperatures 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.”Delgado reported from Bangkok, Thailand.The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Photos You Should See – December 2025

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Crisis

Rise and Fall

A film to provide an awareness of climate change and the individual measures we can take to combat it. The production process of Rise and Fall began as your stereotypical documentary meant to showcase various aspects of the Earth and Ocean Sciences Department at UNCW. Still, as the interview process was underway, it was quickly decided to move in another direction. It is an essay film about the science of climate change, what we can do in our day-to-day lives to combat it, and its impacts. Without using talking heads, the images of the natural world provide a sensual look at what will be affected by climate change.

Climate
Nature
Documentary

THE SPRAYER

In the land occupied with the sprayers army, no one has the right to grow any kind of plants either in public or private. So many of the people and soldiers do not even know how a plant grows or looks like, until one day one of the soldiers finds a seed buried deep down in the dust and his curiosity is just the beginning of something extraordinary, something big, something revolutionary.

Plants
CO2
Animation

The Invisible Mammal - The Bat Rescuer

Bats are struggling to survive, specifically in North America, where white nose syndrome is causing a sharp decline of certain species. Pertinent issues: climate change, habitat destruction, what can humans must do to prevent extinction.

Animals
Climate
Extinction

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