On 6 and 7 July 2018, torrential rains came down on parts of southwestern Japan, especially around Hiroshima, Wakayama and Okayama. The resulting flash floods and landslides killed at least 200 people and caused immense damage.
In May 2016, an all-time record high temperature of 51°C was recorded in Rajasthan, India, by some accounts the third-highest temperature ever documented globally. What was behind the extreme heat?
A relentless downpour pounded Tamil Nadu’s capital city of Chennai on December 1, 2015, flooding and submerging one of India’s largest cities. The heaviest one-day rainfall in the region – as much as 494 mm (19.45 inches) – in more than a century left more than three million people without basic services.