climate crisis
Unprecedented heat in Canada: why extreme weather can’t become the ‘new normal’
These pictures don’t promise anything good:
Monday saw many storms in southwestern Germany.
Consequences: fallen trees, storm damage, landslides, and road flooding. Vehicles drown in floods of rain that fall through the streets like waterfalls. Firefighters must be called hundreds of times.
The town of Büsingen in Baden-Württemberg is drowning in hail after a storm. Water and hailstones inundated the community in the Rottweil area. Firefighters have to move 40 times here on their own.
An unusual sight for the summer months: Vehicle cleaning workers try to clear the roads of icy rain.
Farmers are particularly affected by the severe weather in the southwest of the republic as well as in Switzerland. Organic farmer Christian Tauscher fears severe crop damage.
The German weather service was also waiting for the coming days before the storms. Until Thursday, there should be storms with heavy rain lasting several hours, especially in the northeast. From time to time there can be hail and storms.
Unprecedented heat in Canada, a complete hurricane in the Czech Republic, hail and torrential rain in Germany – not the result of a full summer storm, but only a few days. The consequences of climate change are becoming increasingly noticeable.
The world is looking at Leighton right now. The small village in western Canada is a hotspot for an unprecedented heat wave that has also hit the neighboring northwestern United States. On two consecutive days, a new heat record was set for Canada in Lytton: the last was 47.9 degrees. Before then, this region of the world had never measured more than 45 degrees – and that was in 1937. “This is really shocking,” said Scott Duncan, a British meteorologist who has made a global name for himself as a historian of extreme events, via Twitter. weather events.
Keep in mind: Standard heat hits an area that is actually known to have cooler temperatures. Whether in Lytton, in Seattle across the border in the United States or in Portland, Oregon, a little further south: it wasn’t as hot as it is now. In the entire history of Seattle, temperatures had previously reached 100 degrees Fahrenheit in just three days (just under 38 degrees Celsius), CBS TV reports, Now this mark has been exceeded for three consecutive days and clearly. Above all, apartments here – similar to Germany – are rarely equipped with air conditioning because it is not usually necessary. In the sweltering heat, affected cities now offer air-conditioned halls and accommodations where people can take refuge.
Severe weather: hurricanes and hailstorms in Europe
In the past few days, Scott Duncan has also been distributing photos and videos from Germany through his social media channels; Especially from the Storm area in the southwest, which was once again shaken by the heavy rain and storm last night. Including hailstorms in Rottweil or In Forggensee not far from Füssen:
In addition: floods with hail also in the French cities of Lyon and Reims, in Spain, evidence of unusual and sometimes frightening weather fronts – the so-called supercells – especially in northern Europe, hurricanes in Essex in the United Kingdom and in the Czech Republic . The latter made headlines for its massive destruction and number of casualties: five dead and 200 wounded. Meteorologist Jörg Kachelmann predicted that such a strong hurricane in Germany would only be a matter of time. Until then there will be casualties. A warmer, wetter climate has helped create these devastating local storms.
Climate researcher: ‘We knew it was coming’
The turbulent days of the weather nowadays serve as concrete evidence of the climate crisis. It is not a question of individual weather extremes per se, but of their increasing accumulation, Which, according to climate researchers, is definitive evidence of global climate changes taking place before our eyes. But this has long been true: “Instead of simply saying that we know extreme weather is on the increase, we can now calculate how much climate change has increased the likelihood of individual events,” So years ago, Susan Joy Hassol, director of the Climate Communication Corporation of America, which has made it its business to communicate research findings in an understandable way.
“I’ve been working on climate forecasts for 25 years, so we knew it was coming,” Accordingly, Canadian climate researcher Catherine Hayhoe tweeted About standard heat in their homeland and in the northwestern United States. Global connections are also clear to climate researchers: “The bell of heat over western North America is only part of a planet-wide wave pattern that circles the entire northern hemisphere,” explained Stephan Ramstorf of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, with four red regions alternating with North air currents, and four blue areas with southerly air currents.” The system appears to be very stable at the moment. It is assumed that the reason is – simply – global warming can slow down and, under certain conditions, cause the jet streams in the atmosphere to stop. By “blocking” the flow of air in this way, the North Pacific region will be constantly supplied with hot air.
Michael Mann: ‘No’ the new normal’
Statistically speaking, such a heatwave on the Pacific coast is literally the millennium event, US atmospheric researcher Jeff Berardelli explained to CBS. However, climate models correctly predicted that it makes heat significant in relation to climate change. It allows for the conclusion that such extreme constellations will occur frequently in the future – with corresponding consequences.
“We will see more and more extreme heat waves, droughts, wildfires and floods as long as we keep the planet warming from burning fossil fuels and carbon dioxide emissions,” CBS quotes Michael Mann, a lead in climate change research at Penn State University. Therefore, greenhouse gas emissions are in dire need of reducing. But some people wanted to come to terms with it, so they’re talking about a “new normal,” according to Mann. But this is not enough, “it’s worse.” The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recently issued an urgent warning that the consequences of uncontrolled or monitored climate change could jeopardize the continued existence of humanity.
Sources: Twitter / Stefan Rahmstorf, Twitter / Kathryn HayhoeAnd the Climate Facts (1)And the Climate Facts (2)And the Twitter / Scott DuncanAnd the CBSDPA . News Agency
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