the summer marathon of climate disasters

by McKenzie Webb, Reporter

World News

  The United Nations defines climate change as warmer temperatures over time that change weather patterns and disrupt the balance of nature. Climate change can also be defined as the Winter Storm in Texas in 2021 that killed over 230 people; the second-deadliest hurricane ever to hit the continental United States, Hurricane Ian; and the occurrence of over a dozen wildfires in Washington that created weeks of unending smoke in October. The effects of climate change are seemingly endless: a plague of natural disasters at almost unprecedented rates in recent years, alongside new local challenges rocking unprepared communities worldwide. 

These more frequent occurrences beg the question: what are the global effects of this turbulent weather? 

This year has been characterized by the return to a semi-normal post-pandemic life and by the natural disasters sweeping the globe. Over the summer of 2022, climatologists recorded one climate-related disaster after another: extreme heat waves in Europe, Hurricane Ian, and deadly flooding in Pakistan — all of which ended lives and cost many countries billions of dollars. Economies suffered, and nations sought aid for relief and damage repair. The heat wave in Europe caused over 15,000 deaths, and the World Health Organization called it the worst heat wave in Europe in the last 500 years. Europe was not the only country that combated record high temperatures: China and the United States also suffered from heat waves that broke temperature records, causing lakes and rivers to dry up. These events devastated local food supplies and created unrest and uncertainty surrounding water accessibility. 

Beyond drought, this year’s hurricane season brought massive damage and flooding to the continental United States. The East Coast saw Hurricane Ian, a category four hurricane, comparable to Hurricane Charley and Katrina, of 04’ and 05’, respectively. Charley was a Category 4 storm like Ian, but the category system only accounts for wind speed, which is only one of the risk factors contributing to a hurricane's risk factor. Storm surges, flooding, and rainfall caused damage more akin to Hurricane Katrina. The climate crisis has induced previously unimaginable levels of rainfall from hurricanes in recent years. These factors lead to severe flooding and destruction, leaving 157 dead and more than 60 billion dollars in damages in Florida alone.  

Hurricanes hit the continental United States at extreme levels this year while monsoon season engulfed South Asia. Pakistan is home to many glaciers—most of any country outside the polar arctic region. The complex network of glaciers across the Pakistani Himalayas has responded to the global temperature rise with rapid melting patterns and contributed to the extreme weather cycles in Pakistan. In the dry season, there was little to no rainfall causing crops to dry up, followed by intense periods of rain leading to flooding and non-reliance on crops due to instability in the area. This cycle creates crop and water shortages in Pakistan, a country known for its exports of wheat, cotton, sugarcane, and mango. Weather-wise, 2022 was a particularly bad year for Pakistan. According to the NDMA, the flooding due to monsoons left one-third of Pakistan underwater, ended upwards of 1,500 lives, and destroyed 1.8 million homes. On top of the seemingly insurmountable hill of recovery, the cataclysmic effects on Pakistan’s agricultural system have promised upcoming food shortages for millions of Pakistanis.

Countries, communities, families, and individuals have all been affected by natural disasters, big and small, that created chain reactions across the globe. Even if it stems from a pinpoint, climate change turns environmental ripples into tidal waves eroding the quality of life for communities across hemispheres with endings of the most extreme of imagined possibilities.

DISCLAIMER: The opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints expressed by the various authors in this paper do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints of Kamiak High School or The Gauntlet. 

Sources

“Pakistan: World Bank Estimates Floods Caused $40B in Damages.” AP NEWS, 19 Oct. 2022, https://apnews.com/article/floods-pakistan-south-asia-islamabad-25ee9dc0ec7aee6f4f2ef7b557216ee7.

Presse, AFP-Agence France. At Least 15,000 Killed By Hot Weather In Europe In 2022: WHO. https://www.barrons.com/news/at-least-15-000-killed-by-hot-weather-in-europe-in-2022-who-01667840706. Accessed 9 Nov. 2022.