Owing to its proximity to restive waters, the Philippines must constantly contend with natural disasters. Early in 2024, the country experienced its hottest temperature on record as the heat index peaked at a scorching 53 degrees Celsius (127 degrees Fahrenheit). After months of punishing drought, back-to-back typhoons inundated cities and rural villages, leaving residents swamped in floodwater for days. In November alone, five typhoons successively slammed into Luzon island in the span of three weeks, an occurrence that forecasters and scientists flagged as bizarre as much as alarming. Multiple climate models project that the country will bear the brunt of climate change. Still, from the unprecedented high temperatures to the atypical torrent of typhoons, the weather pattern is indisputably swinging between extremes, actively threatening lives, ecosystems, and cultural continuity.