BANGKOK:Warmer seas and heavier rains linked to climate change, along with Indonesia and Sri Lanka’s unique geographies and vulnerabilities, combined to produce deadly flooding that killed hundreds, scientists said Thursday.
Two tropical storms dumped massive amounts of rain on the countries last month, prompting landslides and flooding that killed more than 600 people in Sri Lanka and nearly 1,000 in Indonesia.
A rapid analysis of the two weather systems carried out by an international group of scientists found a confluence of factors drove the disaster.
They include heavier rainfall and warmer seas linked to climate change, as well as weather patterns such as La Nina and the Indian Ocean Dipole.
The research could not quantify the precise influence of climate change because models do not fully capture some of the seasonal and regional weather patterns, the scientists said.
Still, they found climate change has made heavy rain events in both regions more intense in recent decades, and that sea surface temperatures are also higher due to climate change.
Warmer oceans can strengthen weather systems and increase the amount of moisture in them.
“Climate change is at least one contributing driver of the observed increase in extreme rainfall,” said Mariam Zachariah, one of the study’s authors and a research associate at Imperial College London.
The analysis, known as an attribution study, uses peer-reviewed methodologies to assess how a warmer climate may impact different weather events.
The scientists found extreme rainfall events in the Malacca Strait region between Malaysia and Indonesia had “increased by an estimated 9-50 percent as a result of rising global temperatures,” said Zachariah.
“Over Sri Lanka, the trends are even stronger, with heavy rainfall events now about 28-160 percent more intense due to the warming we have already experienced,” she told reporters.
While the datasets “showed a wide range,” Zachariah added, “they all point in the same direction, that extreme rainfall events are becoming more intense in both study regions.”
The scientists said other factors were also at play, including deforestation and natural geography that channeled heavy rain into populated flood plains.
The two tropical storms coincided with the monsoon rains across much of Asia, which often brings some flooding.
But the scale of the disaster in the two countries is virtually unprecedented.
“Monsoon rains are normal in this part of the world,” said Sarah Kew, climate researcher at the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute, and study lead author.
“What is not normal is the growing intensity of these storms and how they are affecting millions of people and claiming hundreds of lives.”
Warmer seas, heavier rains drove Asia floods: scientists
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Warmer seas, heavier rains drove Asia floods: scientists
- Warmer seas and heavier rains linked to climate change, along with Indonesia and Sri Lanka’s unique geographies and vulnerabilities, combined to produce deadly flooding that killed hundreds, scientist
Ratcliffe says he is sorry his UK ‘colonized by immigrants’ remark offended some
- His comments were condemned by politicians, campaigners and by fan groups at Manchester United
- Muslim Supporters Club said the term “colonized” was frequently used by far-right activists to frame migrants as invaders
LONDON: British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe said on Thursday he was sorry he had offended some people by saying the country had been “colonized by immigrants,” after Prime Minister Keir Starmer joined a chorus of criticism over the remarks.
Ratcliffe, one of Britain’s most successful businessmen, responded to the outcry with a statement saying it was important to raise the issue of immigration, but that he regretted his “choice of language” had caused concern.
The founder of chemicals giant INEOS, and owner of nearly a third of Manchester United, had told Sky News that high migration and people living on benefits were damaging the economy.
Finance minister: Comments were “disgusting”
“You can’t have an economy with nine million people on benefits and huge levels of immigrants coming in. I mean, the UK has been colonized — it’s costing too much money,” Ratcliffe said in the interview aired on Wednesday.
“The UK has been colonized by immigrants, really, hasn’t it?” he added.
Starmer said the remarks were wrong and would play into the hands of those who wanted to divide the country. Finance minister Rachel Reeves said the comments were “unacceptable” and “disgusting.”
On Thursday, INEOS issued a statement from Ratcliffe in response to “reporting of his comments.”
“I am sorry that my choice of language has offended some people in the UK and Europe and caused concern but it is important to raise the issue of controlled and well-managed immigration that supports economic growth,” he said.
He said he wanted to stress that governments must manage migration alongside investment in skills, industry and jobs to ensure long-term prosperity is shared by everyone, and that it was “critical that we maintain an open debate on the challenges facing the UK.”
Starmer’s spokesperson said it was right for him to apologize. Asked if an apology about offense caused rather than the comments themselves were enough, the spokesperson said questions on the detail of the apology were for Ratcliffe.
Manchester United fans flag up use of “colonized”
His comments were condemned by politicians, campaigners and by fan groups at Manchester United, including its Muslim Supporters Club who said the term “colonized” was frequently used by far-right activists to frame migrants as invaders.
“Public discourse shapes public behavior,” the group said. “When influential figures adopt language that mirrors extremist talking points, it risks legitimising prejudice and deepening division.”
Others noted that the Manchester United first team was largely made up of international players and staff, and questioned whether Ratcliffe should be commenting on British politics when he had moved to the tax haven Monaco.
Before Ratcliffe’s response, The Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham said Ratcliffe’s comments were inflammatory and should be withdrawn.
Immigration debate has intensified
Immigration has consistently been among the top voter concerns in Britain according to opinion polls, and has helped fuel the rise of Nigel Farage’s right-wing populist party Reform UK.
Rhetoric around immigration has hardened in recent years and a wave of protests broke out last summer outside hotels housing asylum seekers. Widespread rioting also occurred in 2024, sparked by false information circulating online that a teenager who killed three young girls was an Islamist migrant.
Sky said Ratcliffe had cited incorrect figures to back up his argument. He said the population had risen from 58 million to 70 million people since 2020. The Office for National Statistics estimates the UK population was 67 million in mid-2020 and 69 million in mid-2024.
The population was around 59 million in 2000. Ratcliffe and his office did not immediately respond to Reuters questions about the figures he used.
Farage responded to the comments by saying that Britain had undergone mass immigration that had changed the character of many areas in the country. “Labour may try to ignore that but Reform won’t,” he said.
