Originally published on the CGS blog on September 16, 2013.
New research reveals a connection between extreme weather and climate change. A report published by the American Meteorological Society found that human-caused climate change was a contributing factor in half of the 12 extreme weather events that occurred last year. We are seeing the impacts of climate change and it’s time for us to get serious about reducing carbon pollution before things get worse.
For some 2012 extreme weather events, especially those involving rainfall or drought, researchers did not find evidence of climate change. A warming climate was not responsible for Britain’s rainy summer or for the Netherlands’ cold spell. They also did not find any relationship between climate change and the droughts in the American Midwest, Kenya, and Somalia. High levels of precipitation in Britain, the United States, China and Japan were attributed to natural variability. However, researchers detected a link to climate change in the rainfalls in Australia and New Zealand.
The heat waves the US experienced last spring and summer had been attributed to normal atmospheric dynamics, but climate scientists now estimate that climate change was responsible for about one-third of the magnitude of that warmth. The study claims that such heat waves are now up to 12 times more likely to occur because of global warming. The report also blamed human-caused climate change for the warmer ocean and atmosphere accounting for the record loss of Arctic sea ice. Though climate change probably did not cause hurricane Sandy, the storm that devastated New York and New Jersey, the increase in sea level may have exacerbated its impact.
Though scientists have previously been reluctant to hold climate change responsible for weather events, advances in research and computer models are making more accurate attributions possible. They also increase the ability to predict the effects climate change will have in the future. Climate change is heating and drying some areas, making them more susceptible to wildfires in the long run. According to an article from the American Ecological Society, high-latitude areas are at risk because their peat soil is high in carbon and will burn under extreme weather conditions. Regions like the American West and parts of Australia are more likely to experience fires in coming years. These predictions already have started to come to fruition with the string of wildfires in the west, such as the Rim Fire that recently razed 134,000 acres of Yosemite National Park.
One of the major things we have to do to head off climate change and prevent more events like this is reduce carbon emissions. The fossil fuels we burn in factories, cars, and homes are a major source of carbon pollution. Clean energy alternatives, such as wind and solar energy, are needed to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels.
