Global warming. Climate change.
No matter which way we word it, no matter how we discuss it, the changes affecting our little blue planet spell out one simple fact to all the people of this world.
The world is changing.
Perhaps faster than we, as humans, are capable of reigning back in, or ever hope to control. Every day of each passing year we are confronted with the increasing ferocity and sheer destructive power Mother Nature has over us. And each year it seems to be getting worse. In this study, I will propose to delve into the ever changing and anomalous weather patterns that seem to be sweeping the globe, and asking the inevitable questions that come out of such a study.
Are we as industrial beings responsible for the extreme weather? Can we do anything to change our weird weather? Will it continue to get worse? Or is this just a cycle the Earth has followed for centuries if not millennia that we are now, as a species, caught up in?
In this report I will cover much of the unseasonal weather across the world, including the harsh flooding being experienced across many developed countries, the extreme cold snaps affecting many northern and even southern countries, the extreme droughts that have plagued many agricultural nations, and of course the ever-worsening hurricane and cyclone events that are now venturing into new and unprepared areas with more and more intensity each year.
I will also discuss the eventuality of what kind of effect these extreme weather events will have on our ever growing and largely urban populations, studying the effect and subsequent crisis as the world’s fresh water supply dries up, and what it will mean for the 80% of the world’s population that live on the world’s coastlines.
Lastly, I will look to the future of our world of extreme weather, and just what we, as a race, can do to combat the weather and the relentless push of Nature, and whether such a task is even possible. I will delve into the human element of what happens when parts of the world are submerged or wiped out due to natural disasters, and if indeed the Earth can sustain a population as large as we currently have in a world with both extreme weather and ever more limited resources.
Without further ado, I present part one of my report.
Strange Days On Planet Earth.
Growing up as a kid in southern Australia, there were always times of the year that came with a certain guarantee. Summery, warm to hot days were always around Christmas and the end of year school holidays, leading into the cooler and often rainier Autumn months of April/May.
Winter would be cold and wet, and would generally persist until around September/October when we would have a few humid days, along with a few storms, as the seasons once again aligned themselves. This was followed by endless days of clear sunshine, albeit very cold and clear nights as we gradually led back into the warmth of the summer months.
Heatwaves were very rare, lasting only a few days, and stormy summer weather was considered a exceptional event, in fact, to wake to humid and rainy skies during January/February was a very odd and uncommon sight, something my parents would label ‘damn Queensland’ weather.
As a keen study of the effects of meteorology over the years, I have deduced one simple little fact.
The seasons are out of alignment.
Cold days in Summer, extreme heatwaves in between, unseasonal rain and flooding, warm clear days in the dead of Winter, thunderstorms and humidity in the oddest of times. Yes indeed, the weather certainly seems to have itself confused with the regular seasons in recent years, and each year we seem to be breaking new records across the world, with more prolonged and severe heat, cold, rain, drought and even snows than previous years.
So naturally, with our weather out of whack, we begin to ask ourselves the question.
Are we causing this?
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