Summer in the Northern Hemisphere has not officially begun, but the season has already brought wildfires, floods, droughts and heat waves.
When it comes to climate crises, this kind of extreme weather is now a matter of course. The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), a non-profit organization, gave it a new name during the hottest months of the year. ..
“Climate change makes May-October a dangerous season in the United States and around the world,” writes Kristy Dahl, a climate scientist at UCS.
She explained that summer is a time of many climate-related disasters in the United States. From the heat waves that peak in the hot season to the Atlantic hurricane season from June to autumn. Higher temperatures also increase the risk of wildfires, which can exacerbate the effects of drought.
From time to time, these events can occur at the same time. For example, like this week, Yellowstone National Park has been flooded, the Midwest has been hit by the heat, and wildfires are rampant in the southwest.
These threats can also exacerbate each other, Dr. Dahl pointed out. For example, decades of “megadroughts” in the southwest have exacerbated wildfires. And the aftermath of last year’s Louisiana hurricane Ida may have exacerbated the effects of the heat waves that followed the storm, she said.
This new “dangerous season” nomenclature was first reported by Grist..
Over the past few years, scientists have been able to perform more and more “attribution investigations” to calculate how much the climate crisis has exacerbated certain extreme weather events.
For example, scientists have determined that last year’s Pacific Northwest heat wave, which caused dozens of deaths, would have been “practically impossible” without human climate change. Warming also tripled the chances of a 2017 hurricane Harvey hitting the Texas coast. More intense than 15pc.
Not all extreme weather events are caused by the climate crisis, Dr. Dahl said in her post. But overall, they tend towards stronger storms, more fires, and more heat waves.
According to the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), heat waves, droughts, severe storms, etc. will become stronger and more common as the Earth warms.
Of course, the impact on climate is not limited to summer. According to last year’s survey, Arctic climate change could lead to more extreme cold waves in other parts of the Northern Hemisphere due to the collapse of the “polar vortex”. example.
However, summer is the time when many of these challenges begin to overlap each other.
“The current approach to treating extreme climates as a one-off disaster rather than part of a larger dangerous trend leaves communities, policy makers and emergency responders responsive and unprepared.” , UCS Rachel Kretus wrote in another post.
“The physical and psychological sacrifices to repeatedly hit communities and first responders are immeasurable.”
