Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Weather extremes linked to human-caused climate change

From Nature Climate Change, a real bona fide scientific journal:
The ostensibly large number of recent extreme weather events has triggered intensive discussions, both in- and outside the scientific community, on whether they are related to global warming. Here, we review the evidence and argue that for some types of extreme — notably heatwaves, but also precipitation extremes — there is now strong evidence linking specific events or an increase in their numbers to the human influence on climate. For other types of extreme, such as storms, the available evidence is less conclusive, but based on observed trends and basic physical concepts it is nevertheless plausible to expect an increase.
Yes, it seems obvious, but now it's more than apparent. (photo: Lake Geneva ice storm this year near my home).

1 comment:

Unknown said...

It does not matter if it is human caused, what does matter is that climate change is occurring.
Therefore, if humans can do something about it, should/can we, what are the risks to the planet, the environment, and to us. These are the same questions to be asked if we don't do anything.

Who caused it is not the concern, can it be corrected and what are the risks.