Memorandum for the Petitioners \120
respondent Carbon Majors for climate impacts is, therefore, quantifiable
and substantial, and the harm is foreseeable.
8.141.In
addition
to source
attribution
studies,
like the UCS-led
undertaking, scientists can also demonstrate the probability of an increased
risk of an event happening due to climate change.>”
8.142. A scientific study by Soria et al., compared super typhoon
Hatyan to the 1897 typhoon in San Pedro Bay. While the 1897 typhoon and
Haiyan had almost identical tracks, Hatyan was more intense, had larger
maximum wind coverage, and moved faster. Despite coming in with storm
surges of similar heights on the open Pacific coast, Haiyan’s storm surge was
about twice the height of the 1897 Typhoon.*”! The study indicates that the
intensity of Haiyan made it possible to push more water on to land.°”? The
Soria et al. study provides early insight into the relationship between super
typhoon Haiyan and climate change, and scientists will continue to run models
focusing on this and other devastating storms. >”?
8.143. Dr. Ekwurzel’s statement pointed to an event attribution study of
Hurricane Sandy by Miller et al. to highlight how such studies can help
understand the influence of climate change. This study found that “[a] largely
anthropogenically driven global sea level rise (GSL) of 20 cm during the 20"
century [Church and White, 2011] caused Sandy to flood an area around 70
km? greater than it would have in 1880, increasing the number of people living
on land lower than the storm tide by around 38,000 in New Jersey and by
around 45,000 in New York City.”°" Dr. Ekwurzel explained that this study
shows how scientists can “parse different aspects of a typhoon or hurricane”
and “figure out what could have been different,” and this can translate into the
cost of damages.*”
8.144. Expert witness Dr. Myles Allen also referred to an event
attribution study by Takayabu et al. to explain the quantification of the impact
of large-scale warming on extreme weather events like Typhoon Haiyan. As
explained in his testimony, the authors of the Takayabu et al. study sought to
determine how would Typhoon Haiyan had been if it was not caused by large-
scale warming.”
570 Marjanac and Patton, supra note 566, p. 273.
5” Soria, 1, et al., Repeat storm surge disasters of Typhoon Haiyan and its 1897 predecessor in the
Philippines, Bulletin of American Meteorological Society, doi:10.1175/BAMS-D-14-00245.1, p. 45.
5? Ekwurzel, B., TSN 27-28 dated September 2018, p. 33, supra note 568.
513 Ig
5% Miller, K.G., et al, (2013), A geological perspective on sea-level rise and its impacts along the US midAtlantic coast. Earth’s Future 1(1):3~18. doi:10.1002/2013EF000135, available at
https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10. 1002/2013EF000 135 (last accessed on 12 September
2019).
575 Ekwurzel, B., TSN 27-28 dated September 2018, pp. 32., supra note 568.
5% Testimony of Dr. Myles Allen, TSN dated 6-7 November 2018, pp. 121-122, also available at
http://chr.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/NICC-TSN-November-6-to-7-London-United-Kingdom.pdf
(last accessed on 12 September 2019),
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