Major new reports from the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), theInternational Energy Agency (IEA) and GermanWatch have turned up the heat on negotiators holding back progress at UN climate talks in Warsaw. These reports provide fresh information explaining how Typhoon Haiyan was more deadly as a result of climate change and how climate extremes – while prevalent worldwide – are hitting vulnerable communities hardest. These new findings leave little doubt that global warming emissions are on the rise and that governments must take urgent, concrete action to curb climate pollution from the energy sector – in order to prevent a catastrophic temperature rise of up to 6C this century.

According to the WMO climate change is already disrupting the water-cycle leading to droughts, floods and extreme rainfall in countries around the world, while others warn that the most vulnerable nations like Haiti, Pakistan and the Philippines are hardest hit.The WMO report highlights that so far in 2013 we have experienced climate extremes from record heatwaves in Australia to flooding in Sudan, USA and Europe. A complementary study from GermanWatch analyses national exposure to climate extremes from the present back to 1993, it shows us that it is the communities least able to protect themselves and most vulnerable to natural disasters that are being affected most by climate impacts.

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Tensions inside the UN climate talks escalated during the second day of negotiations, as civil society – led by youth groups – joined in a voluntary fast in solidarity of Filipino delegate Yeb Sano, and all those effected by Typhoon Haiyan. The group of around 30 campaigners joined Yeb Sano, in the conference cafeteria at lunchtime to tell people that they would take part in a voluntary fast “until a meaningful outcome is in sight.”

Relief efforts continue to attempt to reach the Philippines as death toll estimates in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan remain around 10,000. With winds of 315km/h, gusts up to 380km/h and a storm surge estimated at 2.1m (10 feet) in some areas, Haiyan has already been dubbed the strongest tropical cyclone to make landfall in world history. The previous record holder to hit the Philippines, Thelma,killed around 5,100 people in 1991. Haiyan’s death toll is already expected to hit 10,000 in the hardest-hit Tacloban alone. 9.5 million people have been affected. Described as “tropical cyclone perfection” and “off the charts”, the links between climate change and super storms like Haiyan are once again being questioned in the wake of the disaster. Although the overall number of hurricanes, cyclones, and typhoons hasn’t increased, the proportion of more intense storms has, as their strength is linked to sea temperature. As the oceans warm with climate change, there is extra energy in the system. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, for one, says that intensification of Super Typhoon Haiyan was “fueled by “ideal” environmental conditions– namely low wind shear and warm ocean temperatures”. Most deaths in the Philippines are expected to be from the storm surge, which locals have described as being “as high as a coconut tree” and “like a tsunami”.

Rising sea levels coupled with greater storm intensities increase the probability that future storm surges will be worse. Strong storms may be a regular occurrence in the Philippines, but the magnitude and impact of Haiyan is unprecedented. Its total economic impact may reach $14 billion, about $2 billion of which will be insured, according to a report by Bloomberg analyst Jonathan Adams. While no individual weather event can be said to be a direct result of climate change, as the world meets in Warsaw for the latest round of climate negotiations the increases in storm severity across the board, including Australian bushfires, US Superstorm Sandy, and now Super Typhoon Haiyan, cannot be ignored. Climate change impacts all, but it hits poor countries the hardest. Oxfam is calling on governments to urgently cut emissions and for developed countries to provide finance to help poor countries cope with the impacts of climate change. It says that in Warsaw all developed countries must say what money they are going to provide in the short term and agree a roadmap for delivering the $100bn a year promised by 2020.

As relief efforts begin to arrive to the Philippines following the record-breaking Typhoon Haiyan, the nation’s lead negotiator at the UN climate talks is on a hunger strike to raise awareness of the plight his and other nations face due to climate disasters. Negotiator Yeb Sano began a voluntary hunger strike at Monday’s opening session of the international climate negotiations in Poland. He dared negotiators to “get off your ivory tower and away from the comfort of your armchair” to see first hand the life-and-death consequences of climate change facing people around the world. The Red Cross is suggesting the death toll from Haiyan could approach 10,000. Meteorologists report that Typhoon Haiyan is the world’s strongest storm to ever make landfall since records began. Prof. Stefan Rahmstorf, a leading climate scientist at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, points to climate change as the aggravating factor that has likely increased the destructive forces of Typhoon Haiyan, including extreme rainfall and heightened storm surges.

Some believe countries such as the Philippines do not have time to wait for an international climate deal, which countries have agreed to reach in Paris in 2015.

The Philippines government has firmly connected the super  typhoon Haiyan with climate change, and urged governments meeting in Poland on Monday to take emergency action to resolve the deadlocked climate talks.

“We cannot sit and stay helpless staring at this international climate stalemate. It is now time to take action. We need an emergency climate pathway,” said Yeb Sano, head of the government’s delegation to the UN climate talks…

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