Climate change in South Asia

Climate change is already having big effects on southern Asia.

Deadly heat waves like one that killed 3,500 people in India and Pakistan in 2015 are becoming more frequent. The summer monsoon rains are changing, affecting farmers.  Rising sea levels are expected to flood low-lying settlements and higher ocean temperatures harm sea life.

The climate is already spurring other changes. Thailand and the Philippines have closed beaches as warming waters threaten coral. In other parts of the region, people are moving out of places where drought and natural disasters have made farming increasingly risky. Some argue that the changing climate is even fueling militancy. 

On this edition of Global Journalist, a look at how climate change is shaping life in one of the world's most vulnerable regions.

Joining the program: 

• Rina Chandran, correspondent, Thomson Reuters Foundation, Bangkok
• Mridula Ramesh, founder, Sundaram Climate Institute, Madurai, India
• Jacob Shewe, climate physicist, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Potsdam, Germany
• Michael Kugelman, Asia program director, Wilson Center, Washington, D.C. 

Producer: Blythe Nebeker

Visual editor: Jiwon Choi