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 >
We are Causing Hurricanes
The amount of CO2 humans are producing has increased exponentially in just a few decades. The number of natural disasters and cases of extreme weather has increased drastically in the last decade. This isn't a coincidence. Our inability to recognize the harm we are doing to the climate has gotten to the point where it ruins communities, environments, and lives. The rising sea temperatures and inconsistent weather have c=increased the frequency and intensity of hurricanes all over the world. People in Puerto Rico are still without power after Hurricane Maria tore apart homes. These events have helped more people understand the issue of climate change, and seeing how it directly hurts us is creating more change. Climate change is a serious issue and it is something we need to slow down before more people are killed by natural disasters.
At first, I was going to try and disprove this. However, upon further research, I realized that warmer ocean surface temperatures can increase the strength of a hurricane. “Recent studies have shown a link between ocean surface temperatures and tropical storm intensity – warmer waters fuel more energetic storms” (NOAA)