Flooding. Storms. Heat waves. More and more we hear about extreme weather events everywhere, even in places that had been considered “safe” up to now. Is there a connection between climate change and these increasing extreme weather events?
There is no easy answer according to NASA’s climate scientists: “Within the scientific community it’s a relatively well-accepted fact that as global temperatures increase, extreme precipitation will very likely increase as well. Beyond that, we’re still learning” (Joao Teixeira, co-director of the Center for Climate Sciences at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory).
Currently accepted climate models point out that with the increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, the surface temperatures of oceans are likely to increase, which in turn could lead to a substantial increase in the frequency of extreme rain storms by the end of the century according to a NASA report. There is a variety of studies that explore the probability of occurrence of extreme weather events by human-caused climate changes. According to a review published by The National Academies Press in Washington DC there seems to be general consensus for events related somehow to raising temperatures.
No matter what the cause is, these extreme weather events are clearly increasing. According to the study Human Cost of Disasters published by the United Nations, the number of climate-related events reported during 2000-2019 almost doubled compared to those reported during 1980-1999. In particular, floods went up from 1389 to 3254 and storms grew from 1457 to 2034 with major increases also in other categories including drought, wildfires and extreme temperature events.
According to the research Extreme Weather Events in Europe: preparing for climate change adaptation by the Norwegian Meteorological Institute, these are some of the changes in extreme weather patterns in Europe:
Intense precipitation has become more severe and more frequent
Winter rainfall has decreased over Southern Europe and the Middle East, and has increased further North
More and longer heat waves and fewer extremely cold days and nights have been experienced
Heat wave intensity, length and number across the Eastern Mediterranean region have increased by a factor of five or more
Increasing summer dryness has been observed in Central and Southern Europe
The risk of and vulnerability to floods have increased over many areas in Europe with substantial increase of flood damage
The rise of these events makes it urgent to take proper measures to adapt to these changes. The European Commission has adopted its new strategy on adaptation to climate change in February 2021. The EU Adaptation Strategy has four objectives: to make adaptation smarter, swifter and more systemic, and to step up international action on adaptation to climate change.
In order to define proper adaptation measures, it is key to have “robust data and risk assessment tools that are available to all – from families building homes, businesses in coastal regions and farmers planning their crops” (EU Adaptation Strategy, 2021).
Climatebricks is one of these tools, offering anyone the possibility to verify the vulnerability of the local area to extreme weather events and prepare for them.ssungsstrategie, 2021).
Interested? Start with your personal risk analysis.
#extremeweather #climatechange #sustainability #adaptation
