The Philippines experienced an increase in “Christmas typhoons” and tropical cyclone-induced rainfall over the last couple of decades, according to the country’s latest climate report. The report, to be published by the Philippine Climate Change Assessment (PhilCCA) Working Group 1 on Oct. 14, is patterned after the climate reports by the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Faye Cruz, climate scientist and Manila Observatory regional climate systems laboratory head, said at a press briefing that one study the report examined tracked “Christmas typhoons,” named for their tendency to occur from December to February. The 2021 study found a 210% increase in Christmas typhoons nationwide since 2012. This trend is more pronounced in southern Philippines, which saw a 480% increase. These tropical cyclones are still low in number, but have been increasing in recent years, Cruz said. The PhilCCA authors also said that tropical cyclone-induced rainfall in the Philippines saw significant increases since 2000, ranging from 16.9% to 19.3% per decade. Climatologist Lourdes Tibig, lead author of two IPCC reports and climate adviser for the Manila-based Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities, said the observed impacts featured in the assessment “are really attributable to human-induced climate change.” Between 1951 and 2018, the Philippines also saw an average increase in temperature of 0.16° Celsius (0.29° Fahrenheit) per decade, the PhilCCA report shows. John Manalo, a meteorologist from the Philippines’ state weather bureau, said urbanization and the urban heat island effect amplified the increase in temperature in the country. Long-term temperature…This article was originally published on Mongabay
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