- Extreme weather is now a
common staple of our daily news.
The UK saw it's highest
temperature ever back in July,
while the US had it's second hottest
and second wettest year on record.
In fact, temperature
records around the world
were smashed last year
with several countries
all experiencing some of
their hottest ever months.
- Last month was the
warmest June on record.
- By the weekend, at least 14 states
are expected to break temperature records.
- This June heat wave will possibly
break previous national all time records.
- In fact, Germany recorded
it's highest ever June
temperature on Wednesday.
- And as our climate continues to change,
natural disasters are on the rise.
2019 was one of the most active
cyclone periods on record,
with the biggest, Hurricane Dorian,
killing at least 70 people
and leaving 70000 homeless.
Meanwhile, the worst bushfire
season in living memory
over in Australia fueled
debates around the relationship
between climate change and
natural disasters once again.
But how exactly can natural
disasters be affected
by climate change?
(soft tense music)
Climate change refers
to changes in weather
over a long period of time.
Many of the ways we measure
climate point towards
a global warming trend, and
the planet getting hotter
can influence extreme weather
events in a number of ways.
Take wildfires for example.
Rising temperatures mean
that periods of drought
are more common and last longer.
If there is less moisture in the air
because of increasing temperatures,
things can catch fire
and spread more easily.
- Australia has experienced
it's hottest day on record.
- We are seeing unprecedented conditions.
- So in Australia for instance,
while climate change can't be pinned down
as the direct cause of bushfires,
scientists have said that this hotter,
drier climate has led to the
fires becoming more intense.
A dry climate also impacts
on local ecosystems,
and how plants and
animals behave differently
when their environment changes
can have a knock-on effect
on natural disasters.
The relationship between the
bark beetles and wildfires
in California is just one
example of this happening.
When the trees there
are weakened by drought,
they become more susceptible
to attacks from the beetles.
They burrow inside the tree and kill it.
In some areas of California,
more than 3/4 of trees have
been killed by the beetles,
leaving millions of dried up trees ready
and waiting to catch fire.
But a hotter world doesn't
just affect fires and droughts.
Melting glaciers and ice sheets
are causing sea levels to rise.
A warmer atmosphere also holds more water,
which means heavy rain is more likely.
Flooding is more common.
- London and the rest
of the southwest Ontario
got hit with heavy rain
Friday night and Saturday.
- Four people have died
in Spain as heavy rain
and flash flooding continue
to batter the southeast.
- [Male Reporter] The French
capital has been drenched
with three weeks of rain in just an hour.
- So up to 20 flood warnings
are in place now crossing Linden, Wales.
- But it also has an effect on hurricanes.
Warmer air and ocean temperature results
in hurricanes becoming more intense,
while higher seas mean that
storm surges are bigger
and ultimately cause more damage.
Hurricanes are categorized
by their wind speed,
and because warmer temperatures
allow forming hurricanes
to pick up more energy, category
four and five hurricanes
are becoming more likely.
- [Female Reporter] It is
the strongest hurricane
in modern records for the area.
- [Man In Red Jacket]
Since we last talked,
there has been in intensive occasion.
- I'm sure you can tell right now.
The wind is really,
really strong out here.
- In fact, experts predict hurricanes
in these highest categories
to more than double
in frequency by the end of the century.
Natural disasters have always happened,
but throughout human history,
we haven't had the ability
to influence nature
on such a large scale that it could
actually change the climate.
Now we do, and we have.
And as long as the temperature
of our world continues to rise,
we can expect events like
fires, drought, flooding
and hurricanes to happen more
often and on a bigger scale.
(soft music)
