Farmers worldwide have well-known coping mechanisms to deal with seasonal uncertainties, variable weather, and natural hazards.

To sustain consumption, they may switch crops, work longer hours, or sell land or other productive assets. Some even migrate to less disaster-prone areas to avoid chronic poverty.

However, a recent study by ADB found that such centuries-old strategies may fail when weather shocks cannot be anticipated or when they are so powerful that they create complete devastation.

Indeed, there is growing evidence that climate change is amplifying the occurrence and severity of calamitous weather, especially in developing Asia.

A global team of scientists who investigated extreme weather events worldwide in 2014 confirmed that human-caused changes in climate played a role in half of them.

Such intense weather changes are not only happening in developing Asia more often than any other region of the world.