What can cause batteries to start leaking?

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Something seems to be causing the batteries in my bedroom/computer room to be going dead and start leaking acid. Back on November 26th, the battery in my clock/radio went dead. I haven't changed it in at least a year, so I wrote it off. Three days ago the battery in BOTH the TV remote and the VCR remote were dead and leaking acid. I haven't used the VCR in at least a month, so that one is excusable and I only checked on a hunch. Now the flashlight that I used last night has a dead battery that is leaking acid.
All but the clock/radio and the VCR use AAA batteries.

Any idea what could be making them not only go dead, but start leaking? It seems odd they would all go dead at once.

Also the closet down the hall where the spare batteries are located had a bunch of dead 9Vs from the package I got from Costco two years ago. I also found one of the AAA batteries was leaking in the package and had to get the acid off the other batteries.

 

I am a chemistry student/graduate/tutor so I am curious too. I haven't had that happen. How long were they stored? Odd that all found like that at the same time roughly.
https://www.consumerreports.org/batteries/whybatteriesleak/

This source says that the chemicals are kept in cases that can rupture because through cycle of a battery hydrogen gas is produced and eventually pressure of that gas can break the compartments.

The batteries in the computer are probably very different than the alkaline batteries the article is talking about but they are similarly chemical systems in compartments that drive electricity because in one compartment is spitting out electrons through a reaction (reduction agent) and other compartment accepting electrons (oxidizing agent). So the compartments aren't supposed to leak but maybe a gas could build pressure like with the alkaline batteries.

I've never had that happen.

 

If they weren't all doing that at practically the same time, I wouldn't bat an eye.
Especially the one in the VCR remote, it's not that unusual for it to happen when a battery is left installed and not used for a prolonged length of time, and I haven't watched a VHS tape in a while. I only found it because I thought I should check all the batteries.

I'm not sure of the age of the AAA batteries as I was one short and I recycled the package on Tuesday, but the 9V batteries are set to expire in "JAN 19" so they have been around a while. There were only 4 left in the package and I threw out two of them, installed one in the clock/radio and I have one left.

What is weird is them not only dying all at once, but starting to leak acid. Usually that doesn't happen unless you leave dead batteries in place for a while because you aren't using the device. The flashlight I used earlier this week and the beam was still strong, not like it was dying. So what could have drained it?

About the only thing that's really changed is I bought a new Dell Inspiron mini-tower and added it to the room. I don't see how that could be draining the batteries surrounding it. Wouldn't that also affect the batteries in my older computers?