Climate Change And Hurricane Sandy: How Global Warming Might Have Made The Superstorm Worse : Reading articles like these at least makes climate change vaguely the 15 second talk of pastime by the average person on the street. And despite the crazy amount of destruction the hurricane Sandy has caused, you just hope it’s left that legacy behind – awareness, more awareness.
I was pleased to learn recently that globally the number of people who believe in global warming has increased this year. A recent survey showed that over 60% of Americans now think that climate change is occurring. This might be a good time to talk about these things and try to better understand and highlight what effects climate change can have. At the same time, it is important to note that climate change is not best represented by change in daily weather or a particular local area, it encapsulates the entire planet and is reflected by long term change in average temperatures and precipitation on it.
The recent Hurricane Sandy was an addition to a rapidly increasing number of natural catastrophes occurring in North America. There has been a notable increase in the number of, and the damage caused by, storms, droughts as well as fires in North America over the last 30 years. Munich Re estimates the financial loss to be over $1 trillion (they also found a five fold increase in losses for the last 3 decades, more than anywhere else in the world). It’s not that Hurricane Sandy was a direct result of global warming, but its scale was certainly trebled due to it. To slightly dissect the causes, an increase in evaporation over the Gulf of Mexico increased the amount of water vapour in the air, which then led to an increase in precipitation.
Along with the belief in climate change it is important to also understand its major causes and effects. A good way to start for all of us would be to effectively be able to communicate to others these causes and effects in simple and understandable terms. This might in itself make a great difference in spreading awareness and in protecting our brilliant world.
Marvin
I was pleased to learn recently that globally the number of people who believe in global warming has increased this year. A recent survey showed that over 60% of Americans now think that climate change is occurring. This might be a good time to talk about these things and try to better understand and highlight what effects climate change can have. At the same time, it is important to note that climate change is not best represented by change in daily weather or a particular local area, it encapsulates the entire planet and is reflected by long term change in average temperatures and precipitation on it.
The recent Hurricane Sandy was an addition to a rapidly increasing number of natural catastrophes occurring in North America. There has been a notable increase in the number of, and the damage caused by, storms, droughts as well as fires in North America over the last 30 years. Munich Re estimates the financial loss to be over $1 trillion (they also found a five fold increase in losses for the last 3 decades, more than anywhere else in the world). It’s not that Hurricane Sandy was a direct result of global warming, but its scale was certainly trebled due to it. To slightly dissect the causes, an increase in evaporation over the Gulf of Mexico increased the amount of water vapour in the air, which then led to an increase in precipitation.
Along with the belief in climate change it is important to also understand its major causes and effects. A good way to start for all of us would be to effectively be able to communicate to others these causes and effects in simple and understandable terms. This might in itself make a great difference in spreading awareness and in protecting our brilliant world.
Marvin
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