The U.N. determined that extreme weather events provoked 15,000 deaths and economic losses of U.S. $170 billion last year.
Droughts, storms, and floods can be catastrophic for individuals and their environments, and many experts wonder if the events are indeed becoming more frequent across the globe.
Extreme weather means that the events are uncommon for the place and time when they manifest, like a snowstorm in Hawaii.
Extreme weather also means phenomenons that impact mundane activities, like intense storms and droughts.
Dr Geert Jan van Oldenborgh, an expert in climate science of the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute, stated:
“Some types of weather events are becoming more extreme, such as heatwaves or intense precipitation. Others are becoming less extreme, such as cold waves. And many fall in between: in some areas, drought becomes more extreme, in others less so”.
Dr Michael Wehner, a climatology expert of the Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory of the U.S., said that particular types of extreme weather have become more intense due to human-provoked climate change.
Other variations of extreme weather that have been regarded as more intense include heat waves, droughts, and intense precipitation.
However, snowstorms and blizzards will apparently become less intense and less frequent.
As for other severe weather events like hurricanes, the evidence is grim.
Scientists predict more intense, larger, and longer-lasting storms, but overall fewer storms.
However, the bigger hurricanes could also produce considerably more rainfall.
Dr Wehner explained:
“While increases in hurricane precipitation are well-established, increases in the wind speed of intense hurricanes are also expected. However, these expected extreme wind speed increases are yet to be robustly detected due to signal to noise issues.”
