Crazy Climates It’s creeping up on us…
By Ce Compton
With the chaos -organized and unorganized- of our fast paced world it is becoming harder to notice the little things, maybe the pile of dishes or the screeching sound your car brakes make. However, there might be something bigger creeping up on you. Extreme weather,
“unexpectable, unusual, unpredictable severe or unseasonal weather; weather at the extremes of the historical distribution [...]”; and there has been a lot of it lately, an unsettling amount. This extreme weather is thought to be caused by climate change. Examples of extreme weather include the severe drought in California, Hurricane Mathew, and Colorado's very own El Niño. This article will explore three out of six kinds of extreme weather.
Hurricanes
Possibly one on of the most destructive weather patterns on this list, hurricanes seem to be getting more and more common with more sporadic and unpredictable patterns and worse results. Hurricane Matthew is a great example of how hurricanes have become more unpredictable. The Weather Channel did a recap on Hurricane Matthew: “Matthew formed from a tropical wave that pushed off the African coast in late September. That tropical wave was dubbed Invest 97L just southwest of the Cape Verde Islands on Sept. 25. [...]
Once Matthew reached the eastern Caribbean, it became a hurricane and rapidly intensified. Its peak intensity was late Sept. 30 into early Oct. 1 when it reached Category 5 strength with 160 mph winds. Matthew then made landfall in Haiti and eastern Cuba on Oct. 4 as a Category 4. From there, Matthew hammered the Bahamas Oct. 5-6 as a Category 3 and 4 hurricane.
The southeastern United States was then hit hard by Hurricane Matthew as it moved very close to the coasts of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina. Matthew made one official U.S. landfall on Oct. 8 southeast of McClellanville, South Carolina, as a Category 1 hurricane with 75 mph winds,”.
The patterns of this hurricane were fairly sporadic and unusual, however while the events of the hurricane were actually occurring weather channels and meteorologists had an even harder time predicting the outcome. This was a serious issue for people that needed this information to stay safe in the extreme situations. For example many people in Florida were not aware of how extreme the hurricane actually was. So when they did understand the danger they were potentially in, there was a mass exodus that clogged up the highways and caused more issues. Hurricane Matthew never actually touched down in Florida, demonstrating these unusual patterns. However, Hurricane Matthew hit Haiti and cuba harder than expected causing more devastation than necessary.
While hurricanes might be the most well known and potentially hazardous event being placed on the extreme weather list, wildfires are becoming a larger issue due to climbing global temperatures, heat waves, and drought. Wildfires might also be more familiar to anyone living in Colorado. Over the past few years there seems to be increase in wildfires. The recent Black Ridge Fire, just 14 miles southwest of Durango, that started in mid-July of this year was only one of the many fires experienced in 2016. The Durango Herald said, in a recap of the Black Ridge Fire, “In light of recent hot, dry weather that has fueled a slew of recent fires in La Plata County, a red flag warning was in effect Monday for western Colorado and parts of southeastern Utah, as well as a no-burn order.” These warnings are all too familiar for anyone living in a place affected drought, dry weather, and heat waves. California’s fires have also been worsening due to the extreme drought and creating serious issues for their native animals.
Durango’s recent El Niño is a perfect example of extreme winter weather. This also means it is not all bad, more snowfall makes for better skiing and more powder days; more snowfall also means more runoff in the spring. However, it also creates greater avalanche danger and more potential for snow damage to. While our El Niño was widely welcomed, some of the more sporadic winter weather has been unpredictable and hard to prepare for. For example, some of the East Coast's recent extreme winters have caused more serious issues due to the unpredictability. The freezing temperatures and simply insane amounts of snow are enough to make anyone a little worried, not to mention how quickly grocery stores empty once one of these storms is predicted. It is almost apocalyptic.
Drought, heat waves, and floods are some of the other major disasters currently on the extreme weather list, and it could be growing. Global climate change affects all weather patterns on this list. Rising temperatures in some climates means more water molecules in the air, this leads to more extreme winters, heavier rains, and worsening floods. These event also lead to other events, like mudslides and destructive erosion. In some paces higher temperatures lead to drier climates and events like drought, heatwaves, and wildfire. These events have their own chain of destruction; drought leads to less habitat for aquatic life and wild fires destroys habitats for woodland creatures. That was just a brief summary of how rising temperatures alone are creating widespread issues that will affect all of us. As you can see this is is a disastrous and dangerous chain reaction affecting almost every habitat, climate, and species.
By Ce Compton
With the chaos -organized and unorganized- of our fast paced world it is becoming harder to notice the little things, maybe the pile of dishes or the screeching sound your car brakes make. However, there might be something bigger creeping up on you. Extreme weather,
“unexpectable, unusual, unpredictable severe or unseasonal weather; weather at the extremes of the historical distribution [...]”; and there has been a lot of it lately, an unsettling amount. This extreme weather is thought to be caused by climate change. Examples of extreme weather include the severe drought in California, Hurricane Mathew, and Colorado's very own El Niño. This article will explore three out of six kinds of extreme weather.
Hurricanes
Possibly one on of the most destructive weather patterns on this list, hurricanes seem to be getting more and more common with more sporadic and unpredictable patterns and worse results. Hurricane Matthew is a great example of how hurricanes have become more unpredictable. The Weather Channel did a recap on Hurricane Matthew: “Matthew formed from a tropical wave that pushed off the African coast in late September. That tropical wave was dubbed Invest 97L just southwest of the Cape Verde Islands on Sept. 25. [...]
Once Matthew reached the eastern Caribbean, it became a hurricane and rapidly intensified. Its peak intensity was late Sept. 30 into early Oct. 1 when it reached Category 5 strength with 160 mph winds. Matthew then made landfall in Haiti and eastern Cuba on Oct. 4 as a Category 4. From there, Matthew hammered the Bahamas Oct. 5-6 as a Category 3 and 4 hurricane.
The southeastern United States was then hit hard by Hurricane Matthew as it moved very close to the coasts of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina. Matthew made one official U.S. landfall on Oct. 8 southeast of McClellanville, South Carolina, as a Category 1 hurricane with 75 mph winds,”.
The patterns of this hurricane were fairly sporadic and unusual, however while the events of the hurricane were actually occurring weather channels and meteorologists had an even harder time predicting the outcome. This was a serious issue for people that needed this information to stay safe in the extreme situations. For example many people in Florida were not aware of how extreme the hurricane actually was. So when they did understand the danger they were potentially in, there was a mass exodus that clogged up the highways and caused more issues. Hurricane Matthew never actually touched down in Florida, demonstrating these unusual patterns. However, Hurricane Matthew hit Haiti and cuba harder than expected causing more devastation than necessary.
While hurricanes might be the most well known and potentially hazardous event being placed on the extreme weather list, wildfires are becoming a larger issue due to climbing global temperatures, heat waves, and drought. Wildfires might also be more familiar to anyone living in Colorado. Over the past few years there seems to be increase in wildfires. The recent Black Ridge Fire, just 14 miles southwest of Durango, that started in mid-July of this year was only one of the many fires experienced in 2016. The Durango Herald said, in a recap of the Black Ridge Fire, “In light of recent hot, dry weather that has fueled a slew of recent fires in La Plata County, a red flag warning was in effect Monday for western Colorado and parts of southeastern Utah, as well as a no-burn order.” These warnings are all too familiar for anyone living in a place affected drought, dry weather, and heat waves. California’s fires have also been worsening due to the extreme drought and creating serious issues for their native animals.
Durango’s recent El Niño is a perfect example of extreme winter weather. This also means it is not all bad, more snowfall makes for better skiing and more powder days; more snowfall also means more runoff in the spring. However, it also creates greater avalanche danger and more potential for snow damage to. While our El Niño was widely welcomed, some of the more sporadic winter weather has been unpredictable and hard to prepare for. For example, some of the East Coast's recent extreme winters have caused more serious issues due to the unpredictability. The freezing temperatures and simply insane amounts of snow are enough to make anyone a little worried, not to mention how quickly grocery stores empty once one of these storms is predicted. It is almost apocalyptic.
Drought, heat waves, and floods are some of the other major disasters currently on the extreme weather list, and it could be growing. Global climate change affects all weather patterns on this list. Rising temperatures in some climates means more water molecules in the air, this leads to more extreme winters, heavier rains, and worsening floods. These event also lead to other events, like mudslides and destructive erosion. In some paces higher temperatures lead to drier climates and events like drought, heatwaves, and wildfire. These events have their own chain of destruction; drought leads to less habitat for aquatic life and wild fires destroys habitats for woodland creatures. That was just a brief summary of how rising temperatures alone are creating widespread issues that will affect all of us. As you can see this is is a disastrous and dangerous chain reaction affecting almost every habitat, climate, and species.