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 >
Global Warming Causes Extreme Weather
The fact that we are experiencing stronger and more severe hurricanes and storms as well as heat waves more so now than we ever have proves that something has changed in the atmosphere. Scientists can very clearly prove that our carbon dioxide emissions are directly affecting the weather, causing heat waves because of the rising temperature, along with intense hurricanes brought on by climate change that causes higher water temperature in the ocean. Many families are being affected by these naturally extreme weather occurrences, and hopefully this will bring more attention to how our pollution is greatly affecting our planet.
If we make small efforts, we can help to slow down global warming. There are some natural ways that do not take a lot of effort that can actually help to take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. For example, we can create farms that take in more carbon then they emit. When plants photosynthesize, they take in carbon dioxide. The carbon in that gas is used to build the physical structure of a plant, and when livestock eats it, it is recycled out of the atmosphere. There are even some companies that make renewable, local wool, linen, cotton, etc. in an effort to get rid of carbon in the atmosphere.