Communicating Organizing Adapting

Climate change increases the likelihood of extreme weather events...

- Dr. Kevin Trenberth, National Center for Atmospheric Research “...all weather events are affected by climate change because the environment in which they occur is warmer and wetter than it used to be.”

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

We’re experiencing these impacts now. Climate change is no longer a problem of the future;

2010 floods in Pakistan: most expensive natural disaster in nation’s history. $9.5 billion in damage, 20 million people displaced. FLOODS Number of Hydrological Events Flood, Mass Movement with Relative Trend years 300% 200% 100% 0%

There has been a 20% increase in the most extreme rainfall events in the US over the past century. SEVERE STORMS Number of Meteorological Events Storms with Relative Trend 300% 200% 100% 0% years

2011: driest year on record in Texas. Half a billion trees were destroyed by wildfires. DROUGHTS Trends in Occurrence of Wild Fires Number of Recorded Major Wild Fire Disasters ( ) = 10 years

2010: the Aceh province of Indonesia alone lost 80% of its coral reefs. CORAL REEFS “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

Ocean Acidification “As CO2 concentration in the ocean increases,…the PH of the ocean falls…[T]here is now evidence that some corals are growing more slowly…with profound results for reef ecosystems. The impacts of acidification, however, are likely to be even more profound for open- ocean and coastal ecosystems that depend upon phytoplankton production to power their economies…Fishing yield is likely to be hit…” Peter F. Sale Our Dying Planet, p. 101

Rising tides divided the South Pacific Carteret Islands in half, creating the first climate refugees. SEA LEVELS RISING Sea Level Rise Over the Last Century cm years

Glaciers Melting “Greenland is currently losing 300 cubic km of ice per year…If all of Greenland’s glaciers were to melt—an increasingly likely situation given expected temperatures later this century—sea level will increase 7 meters…Even a 1-meter rise in mean sea level will flood major cities, devastate many coastal communities, and submerge a number of island nations.” (Melting of glaciers will also cause major river flows to decline.) Peter F. Sale Our Dying Planet, p. 101

EXTREME COLD/SNOW Anomalies in Northern Hemisphere Snow Cover years : Mid-Atlantic US had snowiest winter on record Million Square Kilometers

Positive Feedback Loops Melting of ice will cause Earth’s surface to absorb more light, increasing its rate of heating Warming of northern Canada and Siberia is resulting in melting permafrost, releasing methane, a very potent greenhouse gas. Peter F. Sale Our Dying Planet, p. 101