Recent tropical cyclones in South-East and South Asia,With heavy rains and floods, at least 1,800 people lost their lives, more than a million were displaced and more than 11 million were affected.
In the past weeks, a tropical cyclone named Ditvah struck Sri Lanka, causing landslides and what is believed to be the worst flooding in the country’s recent history. Another, named Koto, caused devastation in the Philippines and Vietnam, and a third, named Senyar, caused floods and landslides in three countries.
It was considered rare because it was formed on the Strait of Malacca – a narrow stretch of water between Peninsular Malaysia and the Indonesian island of Sumatra.
Climatologist Fredolin Tangang, emeritus professor at the National University of Malaysia, who served as vice-chair of a working group on the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), described it as “very unusual”.
it is just the second documented case According to NASA, a tropical cyclone is forming in the strait.
Earlier in November, the Philippines was affected by Fung-Wong The most powerful cyclone to hit the country in 2025, With a diameter of 1,800 km (about 1,120 miles), it affects 16 out of 18 regions of the country.
What exactly are tropical cyclones?
Cyclones are huge storms that form over tropical waters. they have Different names depending on where they appear.In the Atlantic and eastern Pacific, they are called hurricanes, in East Asia, they are called typhoons, and in the Indian Ocean and South Pacific, they are simply named cyclones – the umbrella term for all such storms.
there are Different classifications for different strengths.At a speed of about 119 km/h (74 mph), a storm is approaching Known as a tropical cycloneAnd depending on the exact wind speed, they are known as Category 1, 2 or 3, Saffir-Simpson scale ,
In the Northern Hemisphere, cyclone season typically lasts from June to November, while in the Southern Hemisphere it typically lasts from November to April – although there can be outliers.
Under what conditions can cyclones form?
Cyclones form over warm tropical oceans with temperatures at least 26 °C (78.8 °F) to depths of 60 meters (197 ft).
“This warm ocean is actually the fuel of a tropical cyclone,” said Sébastien Langlade, head of operations at the Regional Specialized Meteorological Center La Reunion, a small French overseas department island off the coast of East Africa.
In addition to hot temperatures, the air needs to maintain adequate humidity. The wind direction and speed should be the same around the water surface and up to a height of 15 to 20 km.
Cyclones do not usually form very close to the equator as it is known by this name Coriolis force Being too weak there to generate a vortex. That is why cyclones usually form at latitudes above 5 degrees.
They begin as a low pressure system that causes warm, moist air to rise. When a thunderstorm forms over a warm low pressure area, it can rise and pull in more warm, moist air from evaporation. This air rises and cools, forming more clouds.
“A tropical cyclone will be able to capture all the fuel from the ocean and turn it into wind and precipitation, so basically a tropical cyclone is like a thermodynamic engine,” Langlade said.
What other risks come with cyclones?
Apart from dangerous winds, tropical cyclones also come Causes torrential rains, floods and storms,
“Hurricane surge leads to sea level rise and you’ll also get some massive waves, so the sea is also very dangerous when talking about extremely intense tropical cyclones,” Langlade said.
Where are the hot spots?
There are seven regions that frequently experience tropical cyclones, however, the western North Pacific has historically been home to the majority of tropical cyclone clusters. The Philippines is in the middle of the so-called “typhoon belt” where an average of 20 typhoons occur per year.
Langlade points to a chart that tracks each of the cyclone’s paths. “This area east of the Philippines and east of Taiwan and south to Japan is the hottest place on Earth.” Many super typhoons form here, he said, with some seasons seeing more than 26 cyclones.
It depends on the favorable conditions that make cyclones possible.
Over 70% of tropical storms form in the Northern Hemisphere.
A study published in the Scientific Journal Nature in this summer found that recent global warming patterns “have driven large changes in tropical cyclone cluster hotspots from the western North Pacific to the North Atlantic.”
What role does climate change play?
“The science is clear that the hotter it gets, the more extreme events there will be,” Tangang said.
Warmer oceans due to human-caused climate change will lead to more intense tropical cyclones in more severe categories. As the world continues to warm, the proportion of very intense Category 4 and 5 tropical cyclones is projected to increase globally. Latest IPCC report.
Although the frequency of cyclones may not increase, the severity of impacts will increase, meaning potentially higher wind speeds, higher storm surges, more rainfall. “It’s quite worrying,” Langlade said.
Can cyclones be prevented?
There is currently no known way to prevent or weaken cyclones.
“Typhoon is something you can’t avoid, but you can reduce its impact, for example, through systematic adaptation, building flood mitigation, etc.,” Tangang said.
This idea is echoed by Langlade who says it is important to maintain a high enough level of awareness among the population so that they are prepared.
If there is no cyclone threat for a few years, people forget about it, he said. But there are important things to keep in mind at the start of tropical cyclone season, such as cutting down trees or clearing drains to drain floodwaters.
Tangang says it is important to build adaptive capacity by enhancing flood mitigation to reduce impacts. And “When it comes to climate change, we must limit global warming to below 1.5 °C (2.7 °F), and to do this, the world must work together to rapidly reduce greenhouse gases.”
Edited by: Tamsin Walker