...the climate isn’t just getting warmer on average, the climate pattern is skewing towards heat extremes. That’s critically important, because adapting to the new normal – if that’s even possible – will require responding to extremes, not just averages. For human well-being and survival, the issue is not just how much the average ocean level rises, but how high the biggest storm surges are; not just what the average daily rainfall is, but how severe the droughts are; not just how much warmer it gets on average, but how long and deadly the heat waves become.(Note: part three is here.)
If one degree of global warming has made extreme weather significantly more probable, what can we expect in coming decades, as the first full century of the Anthropocene unfolds? A growing body of scientific research has focused on that question, and the answers are consistent: the extreme heat events of recent years will become more frequent and more severe as the century progresses.
in the time remaining, to help us understand how the man-made system of capitalism will lead to the extinction of our human species, and so many others.
Thursday, September 24, 2015
Anthropocene heat, part two: Four degrees of devastation
Click here to access article by Ian Angus from Climate & Capitalism.