RUSSIA. Deadliest heat wave ever.

55,000 dead.$15 billion in damage.

http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=1831

HORN of AFRICA. Drought caused widespread famine.

30,000 dead.

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2012/01/02/396307/top-10-global-weather-events-of-2011/?mobile=nc

THAILAND. Heavy monsoon rains.

600 killed.$45 billion ($18% of GDP) in damage.

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2012/01/02/396307/top-10-global-weather-events-of-2011/?mobile=nc

95º F/35º C - Ascension Islands

97º F/36º C - Solomon Islands

99º F/37º C - FInland

102º F/38º C - Belarus

108º F/42º C - Ukraine

108º F/42º C - Colombia

108º F/42º C - Zambria

114º F/45º C - Russia

116º F/46º C - Nigeria

116º F/47º C - Cyprus

116º F/47º C - Bolivia

117º F/47º C - Myanmar

118º F/48º C - Chad

122º F/50º C – Sudan

123º F/50º C - Qatar

124º F/51º C - Jordan

126º F/52º C – Saudi Arabia

126º F/52º C – Iraq

127º F/53º C – Kuwait

128º F/54º C - Pakistan

119º F/48º C - Niger

Record heat in

2010Countries that set new record highs in 2010

http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=1831

Are all these records and extremes

a coincidence?

CLIMATE

CHANGE

Connect the dots.

Texas

Horn of Africa

Russia

New Mexico

Arizona Russia

Europe

19 Countries

Break

Temperature

Records

Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Ivan

Hurricane Irene

Tennessee Pakistan

Mississippi River

http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=1831

Extreme weather events are becoming increasingly frequent and severe all over the planet.

500

450

400

350

300

250

150

100

50

01980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010

Other weather related events

Storms

Floods

Droughts

Geophysical

year

number of reported disasters per year

Source: CRED (2011)

http://www.swissre.com/rethinking/crm/

Estimated costs of natural disasters

have risen from $25 billion in

the 1980s to over $130 billion today

“““The evidence is in: global warming has caused severe floods, droughts, and storms. More violent and frequent storms, once merely a prediction of

climate models, are now a matter of observation.”

- Scientific American

It’s time we start connecting

THE DOTS

This is the world of climate change.

Climate change increases the likelihood of

extremeweather events...

Just like smoking increasesthe likelihood of being diagnosed with

lung cancer.

““- Dr. KevinTrenberth, National Center for Atmospheric Research

“...all weather events are

affected by climate change because the environment in which they

occur is warmer and wetter than it used to be.”

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/wcc.142/full

As global temperatures rise due to global warming,the atmosphere can hold more moisture. Molecules inwarmer air spread out farther, creating more spacefor water vapor to form.

As global temperatures rise due to global warming, the atmosphere can hold more moisture. Molecules in warmer air spread out farther, creating more space for water vapor to form.

More water in the atmosphere means when it does rain,

It really

pours

We’re experiencing these impacts now.

Climate change is no longer a problem of the future;

2010 floods in Pakistan: most expensive natural disaster in nation’s history. $9.5 billion in damage, 20 million people displaced.

FLOODS

Number of Hydrological EventsFlood, Mass Movement with Relative Trend

http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=1831

1980 19902000

years

300%

200%

100%

0%

There has been a 20% increase in the most extreme rainfall events in the US over the past century.

SEVERE STORMS

Number of Meteorological EventsStorms with Relative Trend

http://www.gfdl.noaa.gov/bibliography/related_files/kek0801.pdf

300%

200%

100%

0%

1980 19902000

years

2011: driest year on record in Texas.

Half a billion trees were destroyed by wildfires.

DROUGHTS

Trends in Occurrence of Wild FiresNumber of Recorded Major Wild Fire Disasters (1950-2000)

http://www.grida.no/graphicslib/detail/trends-in-occurence-of-wild-fires_175a#http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/16/us-drought-trees-texas-idUSTRE81F02W20120216

= 10 years

1950 2000

1950 2000

1950 20001950 2000

1950 2000

2010: the Aceh province of Indonesiaalone lost 80% of its coral reefs.

CORAL REEFS

http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/01/09/207309/coral-reefs-second-worst-beating-on-record-2010/

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2010/12/07/207141/j-e-n-veron-coral-reefs-bleaching/

“The science is clear: Unless we change the way we live, the Earth’s coral reefs will be utterly destroyed within our children’s lifetimes.”

J.E.N. Verone, Former Chief Scientist of the Australian Institute of Marine Science

Rising tides divided the South Pacific Carteret Islands in half, creating the first climate refugees.

SEA LEVELS RISING

Sea Level Over the Rise of the Last Century

http://www.grida.no/graphicslib/detail/sea-level-rise-due-past-and-scenarios-due-to-global-warming_8599http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00kj9z1

cm

years

EXTREME COLD/SNOW

Anomalies in Northern Hemisphere Snow Cover

http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/res/div/ocp/drought/snow.shtmlhttp://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=1831http://www.grida.no/graphicslib/detail/anomalies-in-northern-hemisphere-snow-cover_124b

years

2009-10: Mid-atlantic US had snowiest winter on record.

4

3

2

1

0

-1

-2

-31965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2008

Mill

ion

Sq

uare

Kilo

mete

rs

Discussion

What changes are we experiencing in ourcommunity?

How are they connected to climate change?

This sounds like our world is

breaking

But we can

fix it

We have to act

NOW.We have to act

TOGETHE

R.Photo credit: Milan Ilnyckyj

In 2011, network news channels ran

only 14 climate change stories–

down from 147 in 2007.

Coverage around the world declined

42% from 2009. Yet the number of average citizens who believe

our planet is warming is on the rise.http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2012/02/29/434563/poll-americans-understanding-climate-change-increasing-with-more-extreme-weather-warmer-temperatures/

http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/01/03/396546/silence-of-the-lambs-media-herd-coverage-climate-change-drops-againhttp://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/01/09/400795/network-news-coverage-collapsed-in-2011/

What can we DO?

It’s our job to make sure everyone is connecting the dots

– even if our politicians and media won’t tell the story.

Join to stop climate change.

So send this information to your friends, family, and your favorite climate skeptics.

And when impacts happen in your community…connect the dots.