Transcript Photo of famine in Africa

RUSSIA. Deadliest heat wave ever.
55,000 dead.
$15 billion in damage.
http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=1831
HORN of AFRICA. Drought caused widespread famine.
30,000 dead.
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2012/01/02/396307/top-10-global-weather-events-of-2011/?mobile=nc
THAILAND. Heavy monsoon rains.
600 killed.
$45 billion ($18% of GDP) in damage.
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2012/01/02/396307/top-10-global-weather-events-of-2011/?mobile=nc
Record heat in
95º F/35º C - Ascension Islands
97º F/36º C - Solomon Islands
99º F/37º C - FInland
102º F/38º C - Belarus
108º F/42ºC - Ukraine
108º F/42ºC - Colombia
108º F/42ºC - Zambria
114º F/45ºC - Russia
116º F/46ºC - Nigeria
116º F/47ºC - Cyprus
116º F/47ºC - Bolivia
117º F/47ºC - Myanmar
118º F/48ºC - Chad
119º F/48ºC - Niger
122º F/50ºC – Sudan
123º F/50ºC - Qatar
124º F/51ºC - Jordan
126º F/52ºC – Saudi Arabia
126º F/52ºC – Iraq
127º F/53ºC – Kuwait
2010
Countries that
set new record
highs in 2010
128º F/54ºC - Pakistan
http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=1831
Are all these
records and extremes
a coincidence?
Texas
Mississippi River
Tennessee
Horn of Africa
Pakistan
Connect the dots.
New Mexico
Russia
Europe
Russia
Arizona
CLIMATE
CHANGE
19 Countries
Break
Temperature
Records
Hurricane Ivan
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Irene
http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=1831
Extreme weather events are
becoming increasingly frequent and
severe all over the planet.
number of
reported
disasters
per year
Other weather
related events
500
450
400
350
Storms
300
Floods
250
Droughts
150
Geophysical
100
50
0
Source: CRED (2011)
year
1980
1985
1990
1995
2000
2005
2010
Estimated costs of natural disasters have
risen from $
over
130 billion today
$
http://www.swissre.com/rethinking/crm/
25 billion in the 1980s to
“The evidence is in: global warming has
caused severe floods, droughts, and storms.
More violent and frequent storms, once merely
a prediction of climate models,
are now a
matter of observation.”
- Scientific American
It’s time we start connecting
THE DOTS
This is the world of
climate change.
Climate change increases
the likelihood of
extreme
weather events...
Just like smoking increases
the likelihood of being
diagnosed with
lung cancer.
“...all weather events are affected
by climate change because
the environment in which they
occur is warmer and
than it used to be.”
wetter
- Dr. Kevin
Trenberth, Natural Center for Atmospheric Research
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/wcc.142/full
As global temperatures rise due to global
warming, the atmosphere can hold more
moisture. Molecules in warmer air spread
out farther, creating more space for water
vapor to form.
As global temperatures rise due to
global warming,
the atmosphere can hold more
moisture. Molecules in
warmer air spread out farther, creating
more space
for water vapor to form.
More water in the atmosphere
means when it does rain,
It really
pours
Climate change is no longer
a problem of the future;
We’re experiencing these
impacts now.
Number of Hydrological Events
Flood, Mass Movement with Relative Trend
300%
200%
100%
0%
years
1980
1990
2000
FLOODS
2010 floods in Pakistan: most expensive natural
disaster in nation’s history. $9.5 billion in damage, 20
million people displaced.
http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=1831
Number of Meteorological Events
Storms with Relative Trend
300%
200%
100%
0%
years
1980
1990
2000
SEVERE STORMS
There has been a 20% increase in the most
extreme rainfall events in the US over the past century.
http://www.gfdl.noaa.gov/bibliography/related_files/kek0801.pdf
Trends in Occurrence of Wild Fires
Number of Recorded Major Wild Fire Disasters (1950-200)
1950
2000
1950
2000
= 10 years
1950
1950
2000
2000
1950
2000
DROUGHTS
2011: driest year on record in Texas.
Half a billion trees were destroyed by wildfires.
http://www.grida.no/graphicslib/detail/trends-in-occurence-of-wild-fires_175a#
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/16/us-drought-trees-texas-idUSTRE81F02W20120216
“The science is clear: Unless
we change the way we live,
the Earth’s coral reefs will be
utterly destroyed within our
children’s lifetimes.” J.E.N. Verone,
Former Chief Scientist of the
Australian Institute of Marine Science
CORAL REEFS
2010: the Aceh province of Indonesia
alone lost 80% of its coral reefs.
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2010/12/07/207141/j-e-n-veron-coral-reefs-bleaching/
http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/01/09/207309/coral-reefs-second-worst-beating-on-record-2010/
Sea Level Over the Rise of the Last Century
cm
years
SEA LEVELS RISING
Rising tides divided the South Pacific Carteret
Islands in half, creating the first climate refugees.
http://www.grida.no/graphicslib/detail/sea-level-rise-due-past-and-scenarios-due-to-global-warming_8599
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00kj9z1
Anomalies in Northern Hemisphere Snow Cover
4
Million Square Kilometers
3
2
1
0
-1
-2
-3
years
1965
2008
1970
1975
1980
1985
1990
1995
2000
2005
EXTREME COLD/SNOW
2009-10: Mid-atlantic US had snowiest winter on record.
http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/res/div/ocp/drought/snow.shtml
http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=1831
http://www.grida.no/graphicslib/detail/anomalies-in-northern-hemisphere-snow-cover_124b
Discussion
What changes are we
experiencing in our
community?
How are they connected
to climate change?
This sounds like our world is
breaking
But we can
fix it
We have to act
NOW.
We have to act
TOGETHER.
Photo credit: Milan Ilnyckyj
In 2011, network news channels ran
only
14 climate change stories– down
from 147 in 2007.
Coverage around the world declined
42% from 2009. Yet the number of
average citizens who believe
our planet is warming is on
the rise.
http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/01/09/400795/network-news-coverage-collapsed-in-2011/
http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/01/03/396546/silence-of-the-lambs-media-herd-coverage-climate-change-drops-again
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2012/02/29/434563/poll-americans-understanding-climate-change-increasing-with-more-extreme-weather-warmer-temperatures/
What can we
DO?
It’s our job to make sure everyone is
connecting the dots
– even if our politicians and media won’t tell the story.
So send this information to your friends,
family, and your favorite climate skeptics.
And when impacts happen in your
community…connect the dots.
Join
to stop climate change.