8/13/2019 Are Rising Temperatures to Blame for Typhoon Haiyan

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From VOA Learning English, this is In the News.

The Philippine government is defending its efforts to get assistance to victims of Tphoon

!aian. "an have received little or no assistance since the storm str#c$ a wee$ ago.

Interior %ecretar "ar &o'as said Frida in the cit of Taclo(an that the need is massive,

immediate and not everone can (e reached.

The aircraft carrier )%% *eorge +ashington and other )% Nav ships arrived in the

Philippines this wee$ to help with disaster relief operations. The ships (ro#ght helicopters

and emergenc aid.

The Nav is deploing the helicopters to inspect damage from Tphoon !aian. The

aircraft are also (eing #sed to transport s#pplies to affected comm#nities. The aircraft

carrier also has medical services and can prod#ce .- million liters of fresh water a da.

The storm displaced h#ndreds of tho#sands of people. The co#ntrs chief of disaster relief

said Frida that at least /,011 people are $nown to have died.

The amo#nt of food and other aid sent to the Philippines has increased in recent das. 2#t

moving the aid from airports or other areas has (een a slow process, in part (eca#se

wrec$age (loc$s man roads.

%cientists sa Tphoon !aian was one of the strongest storms on record ever to hit land.

%ome people wonder whether man3made climate change plaed a part in the tphoon. 2o(

+ard is with the *rantham &esearch Instit#te on 4limate 4hange at the London %chool of

Economics.

5There6s certainl strong circ#mstantial evidence (eca#se we $now that the strength oftropical cclones, h#rricanes, tphoons, depends ver m#ch on sea s#rface temperat#res.

The act as the f#el. And we6ve got ver warm waters in the Pacific at the moment, which

have (een increasing (eca#se of climate change, and those ver warm waters are what

powered this tphoon.7

2o( +ard sas the intensit of storms seems to (e increasing.

5O#r models are not ver clear at the moment. 2#t we might e'pect in the f#t#re that we

might even see fewer, (#t those that do occ#r will (e m#ch stronger than we6re

e'periencing now.7

2enedict 8empse is with the aid gro#p %ave the 4hildren. !e sas detailed weather

predictions meant that some aid wor$ers were alread in place when the storm hit.

5!alf a do9en people went into the path of the storm in order to (e prepared for the

response in Taclo(an and elsewhere in the Philippines.7

!e sas aid agencies are learning to prepare for nat#ral disasters of this $ind.

8/13/2019 Are Rising Temperatures to Blame for Typhoon Haiyan

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52etween aro#nd :11: and :1, on average over :01 million people a ear are (eing

affected ( disasters. And so we6re seeing the realit of these trends acting o#t on the

gro#nd, and it6s a(sol#tel something that we6re having to prepare to respond to in the

f#t#re.7

2enn Peiser is director of the *lo(al +arming Polic Fo#ndation. !is gro#p ;#estionswhether h#man activities are to (lame for rising temperat#res. !e sas people sho#ld (e

concerned a(o#t disaster preparation instead of c#tting gases lin$ed to climate change.

5This was the :1th tropical storm to have hit the Philippines this ear. %o this is going to

contin#e no matter what we decide on 4O:, these storms will contin#e.7

4limate change tal$s are ta$ing place in +arsaw, Poland. At the tal$s, the Philippine

representative appealed for an agreement to c#t ind#strial gases li$e car(on dio'ide.

%cientist 2o( +ard sas the delegates sho#ld pa close attention.

5I thin$ this tphoon will foc#s minds ver m#ch on the fact that if we s;#a((le and dela ingetting an agreement, we6re going to see more and more of these $ind of events with ver,

ver severe h#man costs.7

2#t o(servers at the +arsaw tal$s sa a deal on c#tting greenho#se gases still appears to

(e far awa.

And that6s In the News, from VOA Learning English. I6m 2o( 8o#ght.