Extreme weather events are becoming more intense and more frequent.12,13 (IPCC 2007)
Some of 2010’s major disaster events:
Russian heat wave and fires.
The summer 2010 heat wave as well as the polluted air from the forest
fires caused fatalities in Moscow to double to a total of 700 people
per day. 14,15 (Russian Academy of Sciences) City
officials of Moscow, Russia reported a 60% increase in the mortality
rate this past summer, when nearly 11,000 of the city’s inhabitants
perished due to the effects of excessive smog and record high
temperatures. 16
Pakistani floods. Massive
floods, the worst in nation’s history, result in about 2,000
fatalities, more than 20 million injured or homeless. One‐fifth of
country was underwater.17
Chinese landslides. Nationwide
floods and landslides leave over 3,100 killed and over 1,000 missing
in 2010 alone. Floods across China increased sevenfold since the 1950s.
18
Brazilwas also struck by extreme heavy floods in April and June 2010 with hundreds of fatalities each time.19
Polandsuffered her worst flooding in decades in May 2010.20
Forest fires raged in Portugal
in summer 2010, spurred on by low humidity levels, strong winds, and
temperatures reaching record highs of 40 degrees Celsius.21
In Chad and Nigeria in 2010, drought then floods that wiped out the small amounts of food crops left after the drought.22
Extreme cold and snow storms in 2010 in India, Northern Europe, North America, and South America
A lot of earthquakes and volcano activity in 2010 disrupted Indonesia, Iceland, Turkey, Chile, Haiti, etc.
Global
warming can cause ice-capped volcanoes like Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull
to more easily erupt due to the ice loss causing a release of pressure
on the hot rocks beneath the Earth’s surface.23(Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A, 2010)
Landslidesand
avalanches in high mountains have increased over the past decade due
to global warming. Volcanoes are increasingly at risk of collapse with
mega-landslides that could bury cities.24
(David Pyle, a volcanologist at the University of Oxford, Bill McGuire
of University College London and Rachel Lowe at the University of
Exeter, UK)
Glacial lake outburst floods are increasing as lakes from glacial melt grow in number and size. 25(International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) in Kathmandu, 2010)
Romm, J. (2009, January 26). NOAA stunner: Climate change “largely irreversible for 1000 years,” with permanent Dust Bowls in Southwest and around the globe. An online acticle on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration [NOAA] finding. Climate Progress blog. Retrieved January 11, 2011 from http://climateprogress.org/2009/01/26/noaa-climate-change-irreversible-1000-years- drought-dust-bowls/
Drought, wildfires put Brazil under environmental emergency (2010, September 8). MYsinchew.com. Retrieved January 11, 2011 from http://www.mysinchew.com/node/44603?tid=37
Matson, J. (2010, April 21). A warming world could trigger earthquakes, landslides and volcanoes. An online acticle on Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A (Physical, Mathematical and Engineering Sciences research. Scientific American [Electronic version]. Retrieved January 11, 2011 from http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=no-link-now-between-eyjafjallajando-2010-04-21
Global warming could turn forests from sink to source of carbon emissions. (2009, April 16). An online acticle on International Union of Forest Research Organizations [IUFRO] report. mongabay.com. Retrieved January 11, 2011 from http://news.mongabay.com/2009/0416-forests.html
Finnish Environment Institute (2010). Soil contributes to climate warming more than expected - Finnish research shows a flaw in climate models. University of Helsinki. Retrieved January 11, 2011 from http://www.ymparisto.fi/default.asp?contentid=351875&lan=en
Corwin, J.A. (2006, October 12). Russia: Siberia’s Once-Frozen Tundra Is Melting. An online acticle on Dr. Katie Walter finding. Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty. Retrieved January 11, 2011 from http://www.rferl.org/content/article/1071976.html
Fitzpatrick, M. (2010, January 6). Methane release ‘looks stronger’. An acticle on Professor Igor Semiletov finding, head of the International Siberian Shelf Study [ISSS], University of Alaska at Fairbanks, USA. BBC. Retrieved January 11, 2011 from http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8437703.stm
Ljunggren, D. (2009, July 29). Arctic tundra hotter, boosts global warming: expert. An acticle on Professor Greg Henry research, University of British Columbia. Reuters. Retrieved January 11, 2011 from http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE56S53E20090729
Return to previous Arctic conditions is unlikely (2010). National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s [NOAA] Arctic Report Card 2010 Update. Retrieved January 11, 2011 from http://www.arctic.noaa.gov/reportcard/
Hansen, K. (2010, January 27). Arctic ‘Melt Season’ Is Growing Longer, New Research Demonstrates. NASA. Retrieved January 11, 2011 from Phsyorg.com http://www.physorg.com/news183836066.html
Water flowing through ice sheets accelerates warming, could speed up ice flow (2010, November 3). University of Colorado, Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences [CIRES]. Retrieved January 11, 2011 from http://www.physorg.com/news/2010-11-ice-sheets.html
Greenland glacier calves island four times the size of Manhattan (2010, August 6). University of Delaware. Retrieved January 11, 2011 from http://www.physorg.com/news200326075.html
Lamont-Doherty (2010, June 20). New research sheds light on Antarctica’s melting Pine Island Glacier. British Antarctic Survey. Retrieved January 11, 2011 from http://www.physorg.com/news196255601.html
Stracansky P., (2010, November 13). Fast Melting Glaciers Threaten Biodiversity. Inter Press Service [IPS] / International Federation of Environmental Journalists [IFEJ] / UNEP/ CBD. Retrieved January 11, 2011 from http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=53552
Hance, J. (2009, November 2). Goodbye, snows of Kilimanjaro. An article on Proceedings of the National Academy of Science [PNAS] report. mongabay.com. Retrieved January 11, 2011 from http://news.mongabay.com/2009/1102-hance_kilimanjaro.html
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