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Climate change 'exacerbated' Cyclone Pam damage, Climate Council says

Updated March 19, 2015 09:34:51

Climate change exacerbated the damage caused by Cyclone Pam, which left a trail of destruction across Vanuatu, Australia's Climate Council says.

The statement was made in a briefing paper released by the Council, which found rising sea surface temperatures would mean more intense cyclones.

"Higher surface temperatures can mean that you have higher wind speed and more damaging rainfall," Amanda McKenzie from the Council said.

"And what we saw in Vanuatu was in the lead-up to the cyclone, sea surface temperatures were well above average."

Ms McKenzie said rising sea levels would multiply the damaging effects of cyclone storm surges.

"Climate change has risen global sea levels by 20 centimetres, that doesn't sound like much but when you think about the volume of extra water riding on a storm surge, it's a significant amount," she said.

The category-five cyclone packed wind gusts of more than 320 kilometres an hour and caused extensive flooding.

At least 11 people were confirmed killed and around 70 per cent of the island nation's population was displaced.

Emergency aid was trickling into outlying islands of Vanuatu which were badly hit by the system.

The southern islands of Tanna and Erromango bore the full brunt of the cyclone when it barrelled in late Friday, and Oxfam, the UN and CARE Australia said assessments showed widespread devastation with entire villages destroyed.

Aid groups and survivors were hoping early warnings, concrete-walled homes, cave refuges and a healthy respect for the sea saved the South Pacific nation from a huge death toll.

Topics: climate-change, cyclone, cyclones, vanuatu, australia, pacific

First posted March 19, 2015 09:23:30