As the planet’s temperatures have increased so too has the frequency of extreme weather reflected in longer and hotter heat waves, more frequent severe storms and hurricanes and more droughts for longer periods of time. A clear illustration of this is the long drought situation affecting California in the US. Research done in 2015 determined that California’s worst drought in over 1,200 years was being further influenced a further 20% due to global warming.
Further influencing the frequency and intensity of extreme weather is related to the fact that the planet’s oceans are also increasing in temperature. The warming of the oceans has in fact influenced category 3 storms by turning these into the more dangerous and destructive category 4 storms. Additionally scientific academies specializing in climate change research have indicated that droughts had doubled in the last 100 years while more hurricanes / typhoons have also increased in severity over the last 50 years. In the US alone 2017 has been a particular devastating year from a damage and fatality aspect accounting for over 3,000 deaths and billions of dollars of damage.
Other links:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IY3mXFXd3GU
