Rebecca Hersher

So as the earth heats up, water that used to be permanently frozen, like glaciers and polar ice caps, are melting.

And that's adding water to the oceans.

The oceans are also getting hotter.

Hotter water expands.

So it takes up more space.

And so you add that all up and sea levels are rising all over the world, which is causing more severe flooding for people who live on the coast.

The other big reason, though, is rain.

I really feel like this one flies under the radar.

Like everyone's always thinking about sea level rise.

But rain is a really big deal.

A warmer atmosphere can hold more moisture.

So when it rains, it pours, literally.

And when a lot of water falls in a short period of time, the ground can't soak it all up.

And that is when you get a flood.

Well, they're both happening in Cambodia.

But rain is the most relevant one in the village we visited.

So Cambodia and Southeast Asia more broadly experience monsoons, these massive seasonal rainstorms that cause some flooding.

That's a normal thing in this part of the world.

But climate change is making monsoons more extreme and less predictable.

So periods of unseasonable drought followed by this torrential rain.