Typhoon Haiyan highlights global cost of climate change

As the Philippine government struggles deal with the humanitarian crisis caused by Typhoon Haiyan, it has already begun to look at the causes of the storm and what it can do to prevent such widespread destruction in the future.
But one of the major factors in the future of extreme weather, and therefore one of the main factors in the future of the Philippines, is almost entirely out of the country’s control.
Most climate scientists agree that increasing global temperatures will cause more intense storms in the future. And while it’s hard to pinpoint the causes of any one storm, many agree that there will be more Typhoon Haiyan-strength storms to come because of climate change.
That’s put the Philippines and other developing nations in a bind. While poor countries often bear the brunt of climate change’s effects, their lackluster economies prevent them from funding in infrastructure and education that could help mitigate the damage of disasters like Haiyan in the future.