Climate change: series of disasters

Paris, France | The “heat dome” in North America, the floods in Western Europe, the wildfires surrounding the Mediterranean, the devastating hurricane in the United States. In mid-September, UN President Antonio Guterres warned.

Also read: The world is on a “catastrophic path towards + 2.7 C warming”

It is difficult to accurately teach this type of phenomenon to warming, but the events are recorded and their resurgence is in line with the key trends expected by experts. According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the number of disasters has increased by 5 in 50 years. Review of recent examples.

Mega-Fire Record

According to the European Service Copernicus de Earth, the U.S. West, Siberia or the Mediterranean margin (at least 90 people have died in Algeria) have experienced violent and repeated fires in recent months. He points out the effects of global warming: dry and hot conditions increase the risk of starting a fire and increase the flammability of plants.

In Siberia, we have even seen “zombie fires” re-emerge after growing under the soil from one year to the next.

The World Meteorological Agency (WWA, which specializes in these “attribute” studies) estimates that the probability of severe fires experiencing Australia in recent years has increased by 30% since 1900 due to warming.

Battle in the front area

At the end of June, Canada and the U.S. Western countries suffocated under the “heat dome” and killed dozens of people. According to the WWA, one episode is “almost impossible” without the effects of climate change. And who wanted fire …

By 2019, the WWA has already calculated that warming has added up to 3 ° C to the very strong summer heat wave that has hit Europe.

Globally, the hottest records since 2015 have been reported.

That water

In July, Germany and Belgium wreaked havoc, killing more than 200 people and damaging billions of euros. According to the WWA, the probability of warming has increased from 20% to 900%. The intensity of the event increased to 19% with more rainfall. The rise in temperature of the atmosphere mechanically increases the humidity it contains.

Storms and Destruction Mouses

The impact of global warming on the triggering of tropical storms has not been established, but the increase in ocean heat provides them with “fuel”, which increases their intensity.

In early September, the remnants of Hurricane Ida moved from the east coast of the United States to the New York area, causing dramatic tunnel flooding that killed 47 people. Overall, according to the OMM, its damage could be greater than that of Hurricane Katrina (2005), the most expensive hurricane ever with $ 163 billion in damage.

Hurricane Harvey, which struck Texas in 2017, is the second most severe hurricane (more than $ 95 billion in damage), according to a study 3.5 times more severe due to climate change.

In poorer countries, these events often cause more deaths, and the WWA estimates flooding in Bangladesh during the devastating monsoon of 2017. Factor that increases if nothing changes.

Hungry at Imbuscade and third

A multi-year drought in Madagascar has turned people into a “horror film” and the UN condemned humanitarian aid in June. According to them, a crisis due to global warming.

In 2018, 3.7 million people in Cape Town, South Africa, lived without water under the threat of a “zero day”.

Elsewhere on the continent, changing extreme climate variables in East Africa requires the invasion of locusts that threaten millions of people.

Very comprehensive gel

In April, two of France’s most valuable vineyards, burgundy and champagne, were hit by severe late frosts. Loss of more than two billion euros depending on the industry. And according to the WWA, “about 60%” of such cases occur during a growing period.

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