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 >
Inevitable consequences and how to stop them
I remember at school looking through articles about Hurricane Harvey. Then I came across an article on the Washington Post about a whole family dying together from the destructive waters. They had died in a van that had been swept away and it killed an elderly couple including all of their four great grandchildren. I was horrified. I couldn't imagine what the terror and pure hopelessness they had felt. After recovering I thought to myself, "Is this what it is going to take for humanity to finally try to solve environmental problems? A whole family being sacrificed to finally wake us up."
To be honest these extreme weather events that are occurring could be from humans. According to Nasa: Global Climate Change Vital Signs of the Planet, CO2 levels on Earth have been increasing exponentially. This is due to human activity through burning of fossil fuels, agriculture, etc. The increased CO2 has shown a correlation with rising temperatures. In conjunction with the greenhouse effect, this increase in temperature has changed the climate, which could have brought about these i ncreased storms.
In other words these storms are causing humans to be drastically hurt like the family I presented. To do them justice and stop instances like those from other occurring we all have to stand up against climate change through educating everyone and doing the real action.
Wow. I never even heard this news report and it deeply saddens me to hear that families were destroyed due to the hurricane. I hate the fact that todays politicians cannot wake up and realize that climate change is real and its slowly eating away at Earth. I agree that humans play a large role in these current disasters; we are the ones to blame for the immense carbon emissions! I wonder when we can all come together and start treating our earth correctly.