Extreme phenomena of climate and weather exact a heavy social, economic and environmental cost, especially among populations that are not used to and are not prepared for it
Most likely, the alarmist vision of sea level rise due to global warming and the flooding of the streets of Tel Aviv near the sea in the coming decade, is still not at the gate. But one of the more alarming manifestations of the climatic changes, in the immediate term, is the severe extremism in climate and weather phenomena occurring in almost all parts of the world. This is not about predictions for the future, near or far, but about phenomena that are already happening or are at our doorstep.
Why is radicalization so important? Extreme phenomena of climate and weather exact a heavy social, economic and environmental cost, especially among populations that are not used to and are not prepared for it. The heat waves in Chicago in 1995 claimed the lives of more than 500 people. About 30,000 deaths were attributed to the heat wave in Europe in 2003, of which about 15,000 were in France alone.
In the summer of 2007, we witnessed prolonged torrential rains that caused huge floods in England and Northern Europe, and at the same time, an anti-cyclonic system took over Southern Europe and the Southeast, which brought heat waves and dryness and temperatures that exceeded 40 degrees Celsius in the shade. The result was the great suffering and death of many people, enormous property damage and huge forest fires.
There is also mounting evidence that global warming increases the strength of the destructive winds that bring with them tropical cyclones, hurricanes and typhoons, and increases the amount of rain they bring. We all remember the hurricane Katrina that brought destruction to New Orleans in 2005 and caused the death of about 1,300 people. Typhoons cause great destruction in Southeast Asia almost every year. In the summer of 2007, their extremes increased due to a combination of torrential monsoon rains and melting glaciers in the Himalayas that caused huge floods in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal. In Bangladesh, it was necessary to evacuate about two million residents from the disaster areas.
In June 2007, a particularly unusual phenomenon was also recorded. Tropical storm Gono, which is as powerful as a Category 5 hurricane (like Hurricane Katrina), has entered Oman in the Middle East. The wind speed reached up to about 260 km/h. And Oman, located at a latitude of 21 degrees north, is already close to our home.
In the article by Kevin E. Turnbreth, "Warmer Oceans, More Intense Hurricanes", presented in this issue, the connection between the intensification of tropical storms and global warming, which is also reflected in the increase in the temperature of the oceans, is discussed.
One of the more disturbing results of climate extremism is that its victims are first of all the poor. The degree of vulnerability of these strata to extreme weather phenomena is thousands of times higher than the vulnerability of populations from high socio-economic strata. It is a tragic vicious circle, the developed industrial countries contribute the lion's share of the greenhouse gases to the atmosphere, but the most deadly results of climate change will first of all be the share of the third world countries.
Is the world and Israel ready for the results of extremism in weather phenomena? Probably not. The huge fires that broke out in Italy, Greece and Bosnia took their governments by surprise, until the Greek government had to turn to international aid. And in Israel? It seems that at this stage the heat waves are mainly bothering the electric company, which anxiously clings to the mythical "shelter" and stops the flow to certain areas when the electricity consumption threatens to exceed the maximum production capacity of 10,600 megawatts (if there are no faults). We are pretty close to it in the summer of 2007.
It is hoped that the governments will realize that in terms of climate extremism, climate change is already here, and we must prepare accordingly.
One response
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