Natural disasters increase
December 13, 2019
West Coast fires
Throughout October, intense wildfires have been ravaging southern California. Over 200,000 residents have evacuated their homes. Over 2 million people have lost power. The fires have caused over $125 million damage.
California has recorded wildfires since 1878, but 15 out of the 20 deadliest fires occurred after 2000. Around 75,000 acres of land (about one third of Dallas) have already burned in 2019. Last year’s fires burned even more, destroying 600,000 acres (about the size of Dallas and Los Angeles combined).
The wildfires in California partially stem from power lines, but experts also believe they are caused by climate change, which is affecting the state at an accelerated pace. According to National Geographic, California has warmed by 3 degrees Fahrenheit over the past century, which is three times more than the global average of 1 degree.
July of 2019 was the third hottest month in global history. This increase in average air temperature sucks the water out of plants and soils, making them drier and easier to burn. Therefore, fires can spread across thousands of acres rapidly. Many scientists have stressed that the rise in global temperatures have caused serious concern and encourage urgent action.
The lack of climate change action by the national administration has received criticism from many scientists.
“Many scientists have spent years collecting information about the effect of human actions on the climate,” anthropologist Jane Goodall said in a speech. “There’s no question that the climate is changing, I’ve seen it all over the world. And the fact that people can deny that humans have influenced this change in climate is quite frankly absurd.”
Students also believe the fires in California are something that must be addressed immediately.
“I think immediate action should be taken to put out the fires because if I were living there, I would be scared for my home and my family and my friends,” senior Emily Bullock said.
Senior Quinn Maguire expressed similar sentiments.
“The California fires a pressing issue that needs immediate government action,” Maguire said.
*sourced from NASA.gov
Floods become more common
2017
- Hurricane Harvey – Houston, TX
- 63 inches of rain caused severe damage.
- 88 people died and 3.7 million people had to be evacuated from homes.
- Research by World Weather Attribution found that Harvey’s rainfall had increased by 15 percent because of global warming.
- Scientists Mark Risser and Michael Wehner found that climate change increased the rainfall by 19 to 38 percent.
2019
- Tropical Depression Imelda – Houston, TX
- 43 inches of rain fell in 72 hours, causing major flooding.
- Two people died and over 1,000 people were forced to evacuate.
- A different study concluded that climate change had caused the effects of Imelda to double.
- Both Houston floods were deemed a ‘500-year’ flood because of their chances of occuring within a given year is one in 500.
Venice, Italy
- The city received about six feet of rain. This was the second-highest flood in Venice since 1966.
- In a tweet, mayor Luigi Brugnaro said that climate change was to blame for the high levels of water.
- “Now the government must listen,” Brugnaro said. “These are the effects of climate change… the costs will be high.”