Changing Impacts of Tropical Cyclones on East and Southeast Asian Inland Regions in the Past and a Globally Warmed Future Climate

Jilong Chen, Chi Yung Tam, Kevin Cheung, Ziqian Wang, Hiroyuki Murakami, Ngar Cheung Lau, Stephen T. Garner, Ziniu Xiao, Chun Wing Choy, Peng Wang

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

23 Scopus citations

Abstract

The impacts of the western North Pacific (WNP) tropical cyclone (TC) on East and Southeast Asian inland regions are analyzed. Here, based on a stringent TC selecting criterion, robust increase of TC-related inland impacts between 1979 and 2016 over East and Southeast Asian regions have been detected. The storms sustained for 2–9 h longer and penetrated 30–190 km further inland, as revealed from different best track datasets. The most significant increase of the TC inland impacts occurred over Hanoi and South China. The physical mechanism that affects TC-related inland impacts is shortly discussed. First, the increasing TC inland impacts just occur in the WNP region, but it is not a global effect. Second, besides the significant WNP warming effects on the enhanced TC landfall intensity and TC inland impacts, it is suggested that the weakening of the upper-level Asian Pacific teleconnection pattern since 1970s may also play an important role, which may reduce the climatic 200 hPa anti-cyclonic wind flows over the Asian region, weakening the wind shear near the Philippine Sea, and may eventually intensify the TC intensity when the TCs across the basin. Moreover, the TC inland impacts in the warming future are projected based on a high-resolution (20 km) global model according to the Representative Concentration Pathway 8.5 scenario. By the end of the 21st century, TC mean landfall intensity will increase by 2 m/s (6%). The stronger storms will sustain 4.9 h (56%) longer and penetrate 92.4 km (50%) farther inland, thereby almost doubling the destructive power delivered to Asian inland regions. More inland locations will therefore be exposed to severe storm–related hazards in the future due to warmer climate. Long-term planning to enhance disaster preparedness and resilience in these regions is called for.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number769005
JournalFrontiers in Earth Science
Volume9
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 30 2021
Externally publishedYes

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General Earth and Planetary Sciences

Keywords

  • East and Southeast Asia
  • global warming
  • high-resolution model
  • inland impacts
  • tropical cyclone

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