Wednesday 29 June 2022

Don't Blame Every Extreme Weather Event Exclusively on Climate Change?

A study in Environmental Research: Climate used 'attribution science' to assess how human-induced climate change altered the impact of 5 extreme weather events (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jun/28/climate-change-heatwaves-droughts-study-weather). The 5 extreme weather events looked at were:- heatwaves; heavy rainfall; drought; wildfires and tropical cyclones. The role of climate change was clearest in relation to heatwaves. Average and extreme heat levels, on every continent, were increased because of human-mediated climate change. There was a tendency in some other extreme weather events (e.g. drought, floods and tropical cyclones), however, to focus exclusively on climate change. Climate change also clearly influences the frequency and severity of these events. Other factors like poverty, missing infrastructure, lack of investment and missing health care systems, however, also play roles. The distinction is helpful but climate change is uniformly problematic.

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