Photo source: ©© Pixluser
Excerpts;
“Last month, Death Valley, California experienced the highest June temperature ever recorded (129 degrees F!). Fires have been blazing in the western United States, leading to catastrophic losses of life. We’re barely more than a month into summer in the Northern Hemisphere, and it has started off extreme. These events come on the heels of an extreme spring globally, which was marked by low snow cover in Eurasia, record rainfall in China, drought in California, and floods in Bangladesh.
The World Resources Institute (WRI) recently created a timeline of extreme events of 2013, building on our 2012 timeline: Photo source: See Timeline
The pattern for extreme events that we saw in 2012 continued into 2013. In early 2013, parts of the Southern Hemisphere witnessed record-high temperatures, with Australia experiencing its hottest month in January 2013 since record-keeping began more than a century ago. Meanwhile, the central and northeastern United States saw record snowfall and blizzard conditions. Precipitation continued to be extreme throughout the spring, with Spain seeing its wettest March on record and China experiencing its wettest May since 1973. At the same time, New Zealand saw its worst drought in three decades, and California experienced its driest year-to-date. Our timeline is by no means comprehensive, but reminds us how extreme events can affect global communities and citizens’ lives, livelihoods, infrastructure, and ecosystems. And it gives us a picture of what a warmer world can bring. The science linking extreme events to global warming continues to become stronger. If we want to reverse the trends that we are seeing, we must not only invest in disaster relief and prevention, but also significantly curb global greenhouse gases…”
Read Full Article And Learn More, The World Resources Institute (WRI)
Global Climate Change: A Primer
This timely, informative book is exactly what the public needs to understand the ongoing disruption of the earth’s climate. The authors present an excellent summary of what we know, and what we don’t know, about the planet’s climate. A book by Orrin H. Pilkey, Keith C. Pilkey, illustrated with batik art by Mary Edna Fraser
, and published by Duke University Press.
