Extreme weather and global warming: examining skeptic perspectives

¶ … skeptics extreme weather caused global warming show global warming fact extreme weather.

Connections between Global Warming and extreme weather phenomena

There is much controversy regarding climate change in the recent years and the reasons for which it is happening. While the majority lobbies with regard to global warming as being one of the principal reasons, it has recently become a trend for many scientists to argue with regard to extreme weather phenomena actually having nothing to do with climate change. Extreme weather phenomena are becoming even more severe as a result of the progress that global warming experienced in the last few years. Considering conditions in the contemporary society, it appears that there is a strong connection between global warming, human actions, and extreme weather phenomena.

Summer days are getting hotter, floods occur more frequently, hurricanes become stronger, and drought seems to be more common. Global warming plays an important role in these events and the fact that it is evolving rapidly is likely to make conditions even more critical. The process has terrible consequences on vulnerable individuals, as old people, individuals who are sick, or who are very young are all exposed to suffering as a result of global warming.

A great deal of individuals fuel the climate change debate by getting involved in either supporting the belief that it has a connection with extreme weather or in contradicting this statement. While someone might be inclined to believe that truth and facts are enough to have people realize that global warming is responsible for extreme weather, the debate still continues with some people arguing in spite of the fact that they know very little about the topic under discussion (Michaels & Balling 1).

Global warming is directly responsible for the fact that approximately half of the U.S. is suffering as a result of drought. The weather is changing and this has terrible consequences on the environment, with temperatures being likely to go up in the near future. Fires occur more frequently and it is difficult for the authorities to effectively control them. High temperatures, drying conditions, and lightning all come together is producing wildfires. These factors are more and more common as a result of global warming and it is thus essential for people to focus on areas that appear to be vulnerable, as this would provide them with the opportunity to put out a fire much more rapidly than in normal conditions. Individuals thus need to develop strategies that would assist them in effectively prevent and combat forest fires in areas where they are likely to occur.

Forest fires are largely a result of the fact that global warming creates the perfect circumstances for them to happen. Global warming produces drought, creates storms that contain lightning, and elevates temperature levels, all of these factors having destructive consequences on the environment and on society in general. "About half of Americans say they recall unusual weather events in their local area over the past year (52%)" (extreme weather and climate change in the american mind september 2012). Consequently, it seems perfectly normal for most to associate global warming with extreme weather phenomena.

Depending on the area that they live in, individuals express more or less concern in extreme weather phenomena. Even with this, it is difficult and almost impossible for someone to say that weather did not change significantly in recent years in the area that he or she lives in. Global warming is responsible for change and for a series of other even more destructive extreme weather phenomena that are likely to occur in the next few years.

Climate change can have terrible consequences on the lives of millions and hurricane Sandy is a self-explanatory case. "Global warming heated the water of the Gulf and Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean, resulting in greatly increased energy and water vapor in the air above the water" (Lakoff). This causes extreme storms of a large magnitude and is most probably one of the principal reasons for which hurricane Sandy occurred (Lakoff).

Extreme weather phenomena such as hurricane Sandy have a devastating impact on the general public. In addition to suffering directly as a result of the storm, the masses also suffer as a consequence of the storm's aftermath. "For example, major weather-related power outages are already becoming more common, oil and gas infrastructure in the Gulf region is at risk as hurricanes and tropical storms intensify, coal transport by rail and barge across the Midwest and Northeast will face more flooding disruptions, and electricity generation in the Southwest will be limited by water shortages and more extreme heat" (Global Warming is Affecting Weather).

The near future might bring on weather phenomena that people have never dreamed of as global warming continues to put across its power. It is actually intriguing that its effects are subtle, but strong at the same time. One of the main reasons for which they are subtle is the fact that people have gotten accustomed to seeing more and more weather phenomena in the recent years and thus came to believe that there is nothing out of the ordinary with such events to happen. Last year, for example, the world saw Hurricane Irene, the Joplin Tornado, multiple floods around the world, and the Fukushima nuclear disaster. All of these events generated much suffering and destruction, but most people failed to understand that there is a strong link between them and global warming.