Extreme Weather Events
By Chloe Lee and Hayden Choe
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Extreme Weathers
Across the world, extreme weather conditions are becoming the new normal. The main causes of extreme weather are primarily related to climate change, which refers to the significant variations of temperatures and weather patterns. The consequences of climate change include greenhouse gas or carbon emissions. Carbon emissions and greenhouse gas emissions are rooted from human activities: deforestation, burning fossil fuels, and public transportations. According to the U.S Environmental Protection Agency, CO2 emissions have increased 90% since 1970. This evidence proves that emissions have been recurrently increasing, and will continue to rise in the future.
Different Types of Extreme Weather Conditions
There are different types of weather conditions all around the world: heat waves, cold waves, droughts, floods, drenching rains, and wildfires.
Heatwaves are usually periods of warm temperatures that occur not only on land but also in the ocean. There is a period of cold temperature called cold waves, and they are the opposite of heat waves. Cold waves invade large areas with cold air which can impact humans, crops, properties, and services.
Marine heatwaves can persist for many weeks or months. The ocean supports our livelihood (over three billion people) and provides the main energy source for one billion people worldwide. Marine heatwaves negatively impact these complex ecosystems, causing devastating effects on marine life and our society. Because of climate change, marine heatwaves are becoming more frequent, intense, and longer lasting.
Droughts can occur as the climate changes, caused by weather patterns, but mostly human activities. Drought is a prolonged dry period in the natural climate cycle that can occur anywhere in the world. They seriously impact on health, agriculture, economies, energy, and the environment.
While drought is a common issue in every county, East Africa is facing the worst drought over years among all the countries. Over 40 million people are facing famine and malnutrition due to the drought’s impact on food supplies.
How can we help?
Humans can take easy but effective actions to prevent further increase in extreme climate conditions.
Human powered mobility instead of private and public vehicles
Walking and Biking instead of taking transportations (including bus, taxi, car) is the most sustainable way for the environment.
According to UCLA Transportation, choosing to walk or bike, even for only a few trips, can reduce the carbon footprint of an average household by up to 1,000 pounds of emissions annually. Not only is walking and biking sustainable for the environment, but it is also beneficial for your health!
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!
Using reusable items such as reusable water bottles and own shopping bags in stores can help reduce plastic usage. Using less plastic can preserve natural resources, which can help protect the environment. Furthermore, recycling saves energy and lessens the harmful disruption and damage being done to the natural world: fewer forests cut down, rivers diverted, wild animals harmed or displaced, and less pollution of water
Work Cited
Wikipedia, https://science4data.com/human-induced-climate-change-blamed-for-dire-drought-in-east-africa/. Accessed 21 March 2024.
“Extreme Weather | Facts – Climate Change: Vital Signs of the Planet.” NASA Climate Change, https://climate.nasa.gov/extreme-weather/. Accessed 21 March 2024.
“Global Greenhouse Gas Emissions Data | US EPA.” Environmental Protection Agency, 7 February 2024, https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/global-greenhouse-gas-emissions-data. Accessed 21 March 2024.
“Marine Heatwaves.” National Oceanography Centre, https://noc.ac.uk/under-the-surface/marine-heatwaves. Accessed 21 March 2024.
“Transportation Choices That Help the Environment | Transportation.” UCLA Transportation, 1 March 2022, https://transportation.ucla.edu/blog/transportation-choices-help-environment. Accessed 21 March 2024.
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