Unit 5 Notes Flashcards
What is Extreme Weather?
When a weather event is significantly different from the average usual weather pattern for a particular location.
What are the examples of extreme weather?
Drought, flash floods, strong winds, extreme cold spell, extreme heat wave.
What is the driving force behind increased extreme weather?
Anthropogenic climate change.
What are El Nino and La Nina?
Natural changes to the normal ocean currents and atmospheric circulation in the Pacific Ocean. They occur every 3-8 years.
How is the Pacific Ocean affected by El Nino?
Stronger hurricanes occur.
How is the Southwest and California affected by El Nino?
Storms, flooding and mudslides.
How are the northern states affected by El Nino?
They’re warmer and drier than usual, and fisheries are disrupted.
What happens to gulf states during El Nino?
They become cool and wet, flooding occurs.
How does El Nino affect the Atlantic Ocean?
Fewer hurricanes occur.
How is South America affected by El Nino?
Southern Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay experience heavy rains, fisheries are disrupted in Chile, flooding in Ecuador and Northern Peru.
How is Australia affected by El Nino?
Drought, forest fires and crop failures.
How is Indonesia affected by El Nino?
Drought and severe forest fires.
How was the USA affected by El Nino in 2015-16?
Warmer Northwest, colder Southeast, extreme flooding. 17 deaths, $883 million of damage in California.
How was Ethiopia affected by El Nino in 2015-16?
80% of harvest failed - 22 million people affected. Malnutrition and internal and external migration have risen. Increasing vulnerability to communicable diseases.
What is happening to Frequency and Severity of El Nino events?
They’re not becoming more common, but are becoming more severe.
What are the predictions of extreme weather linked to climate change?
7% more rainfall for every 1% rise in temperature. 2024 - hottest year on record. 2023 - Second warmest.
What has the average temperature risen by since 1900?
1.1 degrees. Nineteen of the hottest years have occurred since 2000.
What was the hottest year on record?
2024 - Over 1.5 degrees above the long term average.
What will happen as the world’s climate warms?
There will be a shift towards increased probability of more heat related extreme weather. Some areas may experience wetter conditions.
What is the change in Geophysical events in figure 1?
Geophysical events aren’t changing a lot, small variations between years.
What are the changes in Meteorological, hydrological, and climatological events?
M - Increased slightly over time. H - Increased a lot over time. C - Nearly doubled.
What happens in North Western Europe in Extreme weather?
Experiences increased winter storms, precipitation, and increased risk of flooding.
What happens in the Mediterranean region in Extreme weather?
Experiences drier conditions, more heatwaves, and forest fires.
What are the extreme weather events experienced in the UK?
Cyclonic storms, convective storms, winter anticyclones, summer anticyclones.
What are the impacts of Cyclonic storms?
Wind - Galeforce winds. Storm surges - over 11m during Eunice. Flooding - Storm Xaver. Air rises, takes warm vapour. Heavy rainfall.
What are the examples of Cyclonic Storms?
Storm Eunice, Storm Dudley, Storm Franklin.
What are the impacts of Convective storms?
Very heavy rainfall, land surface is hot, creates intense pockets of rising air. Lifts moisture, hailstones. Thunderstorms.
What are the examples of Convective storms?
Southern Netherlands - 2016. 3-5cm hailstones destroyed farms, greenhouse crops, damaged property. Lost £1 Billion in insurance, smashes windows.
What are the impacts of Winter Anticyclones?
Water levels in rivers, low vegetation is dry. Railroads buckle in heat. Glaciers melt and retreat at record rates, drought conditions.
What are the examples of winter Anticyclones?
Beast from the East - -14 degrees, disruption for communities, businesses.
What are the impacts of Summer Anticyclones?
High temperatures, mortality rate increases due to heat related deaths. Increase in heat stroke. Transport disruption, roads can melt.
What are the examples of Summer Anticyclones?
Reduced crop yield, crop failure.
What were the physical impacts of the European Heatwaves in 2023?
Low river flows and lake levels, forest fires, melting glaciers. River Danube fell to its lowest level in 100 years. 215,000 hectares of forest were destroyed.
How many people died as a result of European Heatwaves in 2023?
47,000.
In what way are recent heatwaves a result of climate change?
2022 - More intense, and higher than expected temperature. 1976 - 35.9 degrees, temperature was stable for many days in a row.
What caused the floods in Valencia in 2024?
Cold air blows over Mediterranean water, leads to warming of air. Air rises, cools, condenses, forms clouds which hold a lot of water vapour.
How are the Valencia floods a result of climate change?
They’re independent of the jet streams - connected to warming rivers/ seas/ oceans.
How are Tropical Cyclones becoming more severe?
Amount of rain from storms projected to increase - sea level rise. Amount of category 4/5 hurricanes is projected to rise.
What is happening to the frequency and intensity of tropical storms?
Intensity is increasing, increased rain, wind speed, increased length, increased energy.
Which major cities experience tropical cyclones in the future as a result of warming oceans?
New York, Beijing, Boston, Tokyo,.
What will rising temperatures mean for cities which are vulnerable to warming oceans?
They mean tropical cyclones form in the mid latitudes. As the world gets hotter, the difference in temperature between equator and polar regions declines, it impacts jet streams.
What is a case study for vulnerability to Tropical Cyclones in a small island state?
Vanuatu, South West Pacific, home to 260,000 residents.
What is the sea level rise in Vanuatu?
Over 3mm per year.
How does a rise in Ocean temperature affect Vanuatu?
Threatens coral reefs - coastal fishing is a principal activity providing for nutrition, welfare, culture, and employment.
How much has total fishery production decreased by in Vanuatu?
75%.
What is the Average Annual Loss from extreme weather events?
17.9% of GDP.
What will happen to extreme weather events such as Cyclones in Vanuatu?
They’ll become more severe, endangering the country’s economy and the population’s livelihood.
What were the effects of Cyclone Pam?
It destroyed 96% of the island’s food crops, left 75,000 people homeless. Caused damage worth 64% of GDP.
How many were left homeless by Cyclone Harold in 2020?
87,000.
Why are countries such as Vanuatu so vulnerable to Tropical Cyclones?
Sea surface temperature increases, marine heatwaves and bleaching - coral reefs are threatened, acidification. Sea level increased, increased coastal flooding. Ocean has taken up more than 90% of the excess heat in climatic system.
What is the other example of a small island state affected by Extreme weather?
The Maldives - home to over 300,000 people. 80% of Islands are less than 1m above sea.
How dependent is the Maldives on Tourism?
Accounts for 28% of GDP, more than 60% of the Maldives’ foreign exchange receipts.
What is the second most important industry in the Maldives?
Fishing - employs over 20% of the population, threatened by coral bleaching.
How is Vulnerability to the threat of climate changing?
The capital is surrounded by a 3m high wall, which took 14 years to construct, costing $63 million. Japan paid 99% of the cost. The Maldives has been constructing a new island, which it hopes to transfer 120,000 people to.
How will the Maldives suffer from Increased climate change in the future?
Decrease in farms and vegetation, losing natural beauty, increased erosion, reliance on coral reefs leaves them vulnerable. Freshwater availability is scarce. The new island will be overpopulated.
What is an example of a region with dramatic weather variability?
Asia - Droughts and floods in India, Nepal, Bangladesh. 2016 - A drought that affected over 330 million people.
What were the impacts of the extreme rainfall in 2017 in Asia?
More than 16 million people have been affected by monsoon flooding across South Asia. 1/3 of Bangladesh and Nepal were flooded. More than 400 people have died in the three countries, India accounted for 239 facilities.
Why are so many affected people vulnerable to extreme flooding?
Low income countries, no immediate relief, less economically developed country.
How is climate change causing human displacement?
Bangladesh - up to 7km of land was eroded - thousands of people were displaced. More extreme weather means more people are permanently displaced.
Which countries find it harder to rebuild from Extreme weather?
LEDC’s, due to lower income, mitigating effects of climate change, giving LEDC’s more resources to combat effects.
How does Extreme weather cause poverty?
LIC’s where drought are prevalent can be the most important causes of persistent poverty.
How many people will live in countries exposed to natural hazards by 2030?
325 Million people.
How are the aid systems flawed to prevent poverty?
Money tends to flow in response to disasters, not preventing them. Long term solutions need to be funded, mitigating the effects of climate change.
What is an example of Adapting to extreme weather around the world?
Miami Beach - Water is seeping up through the ground - problems with ground water infiltration - dams and barriers aren’t enough. The beach was elevated to be higher compared to sea level. Elevation started in 2014.
What has Indonesia done in response to Extreme Weather?
Seawalls frequently collapse, making coastal erosion worse. Elevating the sea bed, dampening the energy of wave and tidal currents.
