HANOI, Vietnam: Climate scientists expect the punishing storms, floods, and devastation experienced in Southeast Asia to become the new normal, driven by climate patterns set last year.

The unusually severe floods this year, caused by late-arriving storms and relentless rain, have wreaked havoc, catching many places off guard.

Some 1,750 people have died across Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and Thailand, with more than 1,000 still missing in floods and landslides. In Indonesia, entire villages are isolated after bridges and roads were swept away. In Sri Lanka, there is a huge paucity of clean water, while Thailand's prime minister acknowledged shortcomings in his government's response.

Malaysia is still reeling from one of its worst floods, which killed three and displaced thousands. Meanwhile, Vietnam and the Philippines have faced a year of punishing storms and floods that have left hundreds dead.

Carbon dioxide in the air rose faster in 2024 than ever before. The UN says this is speeding up climate change and causing more extreme weather.

Asia Hit the Hardest

Asia is getting hit the hardest and is warming almost twice as fast as the rest of the world. Scientists say storms, floods, and other extreme events are occurring more often and becoming more severe.

Warmer oceans give storms more power, and higher sea levels make storm surges worse, said Benjamin Horton, an earth science professor at the City University of Hong Kong.

"While the total number of storms may not dramatically increase, their severity and unpredictability will," Horton said.

The unpredictability, intensity, and frequency of recent extreme weather events are overwhelming Southeast Asian governments, said Aslam Perwaiz of the Bangkok-based intergovernmental Asian Disaster Preparedness Center.

"Future disasters will give us even less lead time to prepare," Perwaiz warned.

In Sri Lanka's hardest-hit provinces, little has changed since the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, said Sarala Emmanuel, a human-rights researcher in Batticaloa. It killed 230,000 people.

"When a disaster like this happens, the poor and marginalized communities are the worst affected," Emmanuel said. That includes poor tea plantation workers living in areas prone to landslides.

Building without proper planning has damaged the environment and worsened floods, said Sandun Thudugala from the Law and Society Trust in Colombo. He said Sri Lanka must plan better for a future with more extreme weather.

In Indonesia, videos showing logs rushing through floodwaters suggest that deforestation has made the floods more severe. Since 2000, the flooded provinces of Aceh, North Sumatra, and West Sumatra have lost a huge amount of forest — an area bigger than New Jersey — according to Global Forest Watch.

Officials rejected claims of illegal logging, saying the timber looked old and probably came from landholders.

Climate Change Costing Countries Billions

Countries are losing billions of dollars a year because of climate change.

Vietnam estimates it lost over US$3 billion in the first 11 months of this year due to floods, landslides, and storms.

Thailand's flood damage is hard to fully track, but the agriculture ministry estimates about $47 million in crop losses since August. One research group says the November floods in southern Thailand alone caused around $781 million in damage, which could slightly reduce the country's economic growth.

Indonesia doesn't have exact figures for this year, but natural disasters typically cost the country about $1.37 billion annually, according to its finance ministry.

For Sri Lanka, disaster costs add even more pressure. The country produces minimal carbon emissions but is heavily affected by climate change while also struggling to repay foreign loans, said Thudugala.

At the COP30 climate conference in Brazil last month, countries promised to triple funding to help vulnerable nations adapt to climate change, aiming for $1.3 trillion a year by 2035. But this is still far less than what developing countries say they need, and no one knows if the money will really come through.

Southeast Asia is at a turning point, said Thomas Houlie from Climate Analytics. The region is increasing its use of renewable energy, but it still depends heavily on fossil fuels.