Weird Weather Where You Are

The summer of 2010 brought some of the strangest—and deadliest—weather we’ve seen in years. What happened? And what does it mean for the planet?

From record-breaking heat waves across the Eastern seaboard of the United States, central Europe, Russia, and sub-Saharan Africa to flooding in Pakistan and China, the summer of 2010 will go down in the history books as one of the most devastating seasons on record.

Chances are, wherever you live on the planet, you’ve seen some pretty strange—and possibly even dangerous—weather this summer.

Most scientists and climatologists agree that weird weather is at least in part the result of global warming—a steady increase in the average temperature of the surface of the Earth thought to be caused by increased concentrations of greenhouse gasses produced by human activity.

But a warming planet doesn’t necessarily mean something as simple as warmer weather worldwide. In fact, the climate change resulting from global warming can, and has, had devastating consequences far beyond a sweltering summer.

Fire

July was the hottest month ever recorded in Russia according to the World Meteorological Organization, a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for monitoring and reporting on the effects of weather patterns and atmospheric conditions on populations around the world.

The high temperatures weren’t just uncomfortable. For Muscovites, they were downright dangerous. The heat wave stretched across the Russian countryside, causing forests and peat bogs to become as dry as tinder—the perfect conditions for wildfires. Throughout late July and into August, Moscow was enveloped in a thick cloud of toxic smoke, resulting in more than 700 deaths per day in the country’s capitol.

As the wildfires reached the forests surrounding Chernobyl, fear that the resulting smoke and ash would spread radioactive materials across Russia and Northern Europe grew.

In mid August, similar conditions—record heat and extreme drought—resulted in more than 25,000 fires across 1.5 million hectares (3.7 million acres) in Bolivia, prompting the government to declare a state of emergency.

Flooding

The heaviest monsoon rains in more than 80 years in western Pakistan caused flooding that has killed more than 2,000 people and forced as many 20 million out of their homes and into refugee camps, according to the most recent United Nations estimates. At one point, approximately one-fifth of Pakistan's total land area was underwater due to the flooding.

Monsoon rains took their toll on China as well. Following a severe drought, a much-heavier-than-normal rainy season in southern China swelled rivers and streams and created flash floods that have killed hundreds of residents and displaced millions more.

Ice

On August 5, an iceberg four times the size of Manhattan broke free from Greenland’s Petermann Glacier, leaving experts concerned that it might float into some of the busiest shipping channels in the world.

A summer hailstorm in North Dakota dropped the largest hailstones ever recorded (some were the size of softballs!), causing hundreds of millions of dollars in damage in only an hour and a half.

And while residents along the Pacific coast weren’t technically freezing, the summer of 2010 has been one of the coldest on record in many areas. In southern California, San Diego residents shivered through the coldest July in 99 years, with an average July temperature of only 65.8 degrees.

The climate-changing future

According to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), “Even the minimum predicted shifts in climate for the 21st century are likely to be significant and disruptive.”
• Warmer oceans mean coastal areas could find themselves literally under water as a result of rising sea levels and more powerful storms.
• Most of the world's endangered species -- some 25% of mammals and 12% of birds -- may become extinct over the next few decades as warmer conditions alter the forests, wetlands and rangelands they depend on.
• Higher temperatures can cause deadly diseases like malaria (which already kills 1 million people annually, most of them children) to spread.

What you can do?

Luckily, the news isn’t all bad.

According to ClimateChange.net, every one of us can take action right now to help slow, or even stop, global warming.

Download these 12 Tips on how you can reduce your energy use and carbon footprint. And then, don’t forget to register your acts of green right here!