Escalating
extreme weather events to hammer humanity.
Extreme
weather events are rocketing upwards in their frequency of
occurrence, intensity, and duration and are impacting new regions
that are unprepared. These events, such as torrential rains, are
causing floods and damaging crops and infrastructure like roads,
rail, pipelines, and buildings. Cities, states, and entire countries
are being battered and inundated resulting in disruption to many
peoples lives as well as enormous economic losses. As bad as this is,
it is going to get much worse by at least 10 to 20 times. Why?
Greenhouse
gas emissions from humans have changed the chemistry of the
atmosphere. The optical absorption of infrared heat has increased in
the atmosphere which raises temperature, and thus water vapor
content, and therefore fuels more intense storms. The jet streams
that guide these storms are slower and wavier and more fractured and
cause our weather gyrations and weird behavior. Areas far north can
get very warm, while areas far south can get very cold. Some areas
get persistent drought. Then, the pattern can flip. The jet streams
are much wavier in the north-south direction since the Arctic
temperatures have warmed 5 to 8 times faster than the global average.
This reduces the temperature difference between the Arctic and
equator and basic physics forces the jets to slow and get wavier.
Why
is the Arctic warming greatly amplified? The region is darkening and
thus absorbing more sunlight, since the land-based snow cover in
spring and the Arctic sea ice cover volume are both declining
exponentially. The white snow and ice is being replaced by dark
surfaces like the ocean and the tundra. The most detailed computer
model on sea ice decline is a U.S. Naval Graduate School model, and
it shows the sea ice cover could be gone by late summer in 2016. If
this happens, the Arctic warming will rocket upwards, the jets will
distort much more, and the extreme weather events will rocket upwards
in frequency, amplitude, and duration and civilization will be
hammered.
Paul
Beckwith
Earlier
posts by Paul Beckwith
-
Abrupt Climate Change
-
Our New Climate and Weather - part 2
-
Our New Climate and Weather
-
Are Alberta’s Tar Sands prepared for a torrential rain event?
- Stop
All New Fossil Fuel Megaprojects
-
Toward Genuinely Improved Discussions of Methane & Climate
-
The Social Tipping Point
- Arctic Cyclone July 2013
- Arctic Ocean Events - Videos by Paul Beckwith
- Climate
change fighting town savaged by runaway oil train
- Extreme
weather becomes the norm - what can you do?
- Thin
Spots developing in Arctic Sea Ice
- The
Tornado Connection to Climate Change
- Anthropogenic
Arctic Volcano can calm climate
- Hold
on folks… the times they are a-changin’
- Hurricane
Sandy moving inland
- Open
Letter to Canadian MPs
-
State of Climate Change October 2012
- Is
death by lead worse than death by climate? No.
- You
are now entering the nonlinearity zone…
-
Vanishing Arctic sea ice is rapidly changing global climate
-
Storm enters Arctic region
-
Update on September Arctic cyclone
-
Arctic cyclone warning for September 7
-
Paul Beckwith on ice speed and drift - update 1
-
Paul Beckwith on ice speed and drift
-
Another Arctic Cyclone brewing
-
Sea ice in the Arctic - Shaken and stirred (by a powerful cyclone)
-
How to part ways with a climate denier that has incredible stamina...
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