In the Northern Hemisphere in 2017 and 2018 brought several destructive hurricanes to the shores of North America, the Caribbean, and throughout the Pacific rim. Such extreme weather events are predicted to get more common and more severe with increasing climate change.
Several participating classes in the ISCFC were or are in the path of these storms and we hope for the best for them, their families and communities.
We would love to hear from students affected directly and indirectly by extreme weather events, and also any students who have been following the news this summer.
What are your thoughts about the connection between climate change and extreme weather events? Has this hurricane season increased your concern about climate change or not? Do you think that US citizens and residents (and others in the region) will take climate change more seriously now?
Extreme Weather >
Extreme Weather and Climate change
Over the last 150 years, the rise of the industrial era and the rapid growth of the human population has led to various devastating changes on our planet. Over the past century there has been an increase of 2 degrees farenheit in global average surface temperature. Although this number may seem small, according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), "Rising global average temperature is associated with widespread changes in weather patterns". Of these changes, a prominent increase in extreme weather has had a detrimental effect on the world and the people that inhabit it. For example, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, from 1851-2004 the total number of hurricanes recorded was 273 and of those, 92 were major and caused severe damage. The EPA says that large storms are likely to continue to become more frequent and more intense with human induced climate change. Another extreme weather case can be observed here in California which has suffered from severe drought that was first recorded in 1924 which corresponds to the beginning of the industrial revolution and our recent climate crisis. According to the World Health Organization over 55 million people globally are affected by drought each year, and water scarcity affects over 40% of the world. The increased temperature of climate change enhances water evaporation and dries out soil and vegetation leading to longer, more frequent, and more potent droughts. Around the world billions suffer from this climate crisis. People must be aware and educated on the climate crisis, and action is required now before it worsens.
Sources:
https://www.c2es.org/content/drought-an … ailability.
https://www.epa.gov/climate-indicators/weather-climate
https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/pastdec.shtml