Continuing our blog series about climate change and its impact on the entire world, we will be discussing weather patterns. Did you know that climate change and human activity actually have a HUGE impact on our weather patterns and how severe weather is across the globe?
Well it is true. For years, human activity has greatly impacted weather, with climate change being the chief agent in making these changes. In fact, “Changes in extreme weather and climate events, such as heat waves and droughts, are the primary way that most people experience climate change.” The weather around the world has an astronomical impact on how we live our lives, from transportation, to food availability, to infrastructure, all of these industries could be affected by extreme weather events. With this big impact, it is no surprise that the increase in extreme weather events is concerning.
But what exactly qualifies something as an extreme weather event? Well, an extreme weather event is described as “unexpected, unusual, severe, or unseasonal weather; weather at the extremes of the historical distribution”. Basically, extreme weather events occur when the present diverges from historical record or causes extreme damage, etc… It may seem as though diverging from the historical records isn’t a big deal, but it means that as an entire world, we are slowly changing our planet, and those changes are having a real and measurable impact. It happens slowly and without many people noticing, but if climate change continues unchecked, this issue will only get worse.
That being said, what events typically trend towards extreme?
Floods: “defined as any high flow, overflow, or inundation by water that causes or threatens damage.
Other Storms: “ trends in severe storms, including the intensity and frequency of tornadoes, hail, and damaging thunderstorm winds, are uncertain and are being studied intensively.”
Hurricanes: “There has been a substantial increase in most measures of Atlantic hurricane activity since the early 1980s”
Overall, increased evidence of these storms and weather events have increased significantly since the 1980’s (when satellites became available). These storms also cause significant damage to our world and cause significant economic burden. These increased extreme weather events urge us to make changes to our climate before the changes are irreversible.
Hopefully your eyes have been opened this week to the impacts of climate change to our entire world. Stay tuned next week where we will be talking about the threat to our water supply due to climate change!
- Edible Landscape Initiative
Check out the first link below to see extreme weather events that have been mapped around the world!
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