“Global weirding” is the term coined by environmentalist
Hunter Lovins for the concept of extreme weather events connected with global
warming. The term “weirding” refers not to the added heat in earth’s climate
system, but to the disruption of weather and climate patterns we as a species
are accustomed to.
As the planet continues to warm due to human influence, the
atmosphere and ocean gain heat energy. This results, of course, not in a linear
shift in temperatures slightly upward around the planet. Since heat is distributed
unevenly from equator to poles, and over continents and oceans, the increased
energy in the atmosphere and ocean are expressed through more frequent, and/or
more extreme, events, such as storms, floods and droughts.
The Physical Science Basis report of Working Group 1 of the
IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report (AR6-WG1) devotes an entire section to extreme
events, saying it is “virtually certain” that heat waves have increased in
frequency and intensity since the 1950’s, and with slightly less confidence,
that precipitation events have too. It is considered “likely” that tropical
cyclones have also increased in number and severity since then, as well as “compound
events” like concurrent heatwaves and droughts on a global scale.
Models agree with evidence that global warming of much
smaller increments--+0.5°C above the 1750-1800 (“pre-industrial”) mean—can produce
such extreme events. We’ve been living in the world of intensified extremes for
three generations, and the trend that way is increasing.
Tomorrow: droughts.
Be brave, and be well.
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