Why unusual weather?

Floods in China and Pakistan have killed thousands. The heat is more than 40 ⁰ C, causing serious forest fires, causing dozens of deaths in Russia. Other record heat waves are also recorded in the US and Europe. What is happening?

Data from the US National Oceanic and Meteorological Agency (NAOA) show that the Earth has warmed over the past three decades and the last decade has been the hottest ever.'Even under normal temperature conditions, extreme weather events still occur. When there is climate change, they occur more often, at a higher, more serious level, "said Deke Arndt, an NAOA expert.

El Nino and global warming

In the United States, according to the National Meteorological Information Center in Asheville, North Carolina, the first six months of 2010 were the hottest period in the country since 1850 when climate data were recorded. One of the explanations given by scientists is the El Nino phenomenon, when a huge amount of warm water in the tropical western Pacific region moves eastward, approaching South America.

On the question of whether global warming and climate change cause natural disasters, scientists are cautious. Now, they agree that climate change is a long-term trend, not just limited to storms, floods or droughts for a year, but carbon dioxide emissions from vehicles, factories and others. Electrical equipment to the environment is also an important factor.

'Human-induced climate change has certainly contributed to the hot weather of the first six months of this year. But because of the diversity of nature, it is difficult to judge the cause of humanity, and how much El Nino is ' - Dr. David Pearce of Scripps Institute of Oceanic Geology in California, said. According to him, past figures show that the current rise in temperature is much larger than what even one of the largest El Nino episodes could have created in the past.

In China, meteorological experts noted that the country has experienced 6.4 days in extreme hot weather, 1.9 days more than the average of previous years. According to weather satellites provided on July 25, ground temperatures in many places in Inner Mongolia, Jiangsu, Qinghai and Xinjiang have risen to 45 degrees Celsius. has also poured into 28 provinces, autonomous regions and Chinese cities since March, killing thousands and killing up to 181 billion yuan ($ 27 billion), according to the National Center for Control. Food and drought control.

'Global warming has raised temperatures in the northern hemisphere' - Ren Fumin, a director of the China Meteorological Agency (CMA), confirmed to Xinhua. According to CMA, the rainfall in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River reaches 577.85mm this year, 16% higher than the annual average.

Other causes

Some other scientists argue that extreme weather can be caused by many reasons, in which global warming is only one. Dr. Alexander Frolov, director of the Russian Federal Bureau of Hydrometeorology, said: High temperatures may be due to global warming, but more scientific statistical analysis will be needed to confirm. He said that if this phenomenon occurred every year, at least for five consecutive years, then the warning signal to the people at that time was very clear.

Yoshihiro Tchibana, a professor of weather at Mie University, Japan, made another theory: this summer's hot season is due to the giant whirlpools appearing about every 10 years. According to the Japan Meteorological Agency, the west winds, which often blow around the Earth from the south-east to the north-west, suddenly changed direction when the Arctic was approaching in early July, causing an unusual heat wave. across the region in medium latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere.

Whatever the cause, as explained by scientists, the damage it causes to people is clear and unpredictable. Russia, the third largest wheat exporter in the world, announced that this year's output will drop by 25% due to drought, leading to a 50% increase in wheat prices since the beginning of June.'As wheat prices rise, prices of other food items will also rise,' - Lester Brown of the Earth Policy Institute forecasts. In addition, food crops in China, oranges harvest in California (USA) . are also threatened by the harsh climate. Brown said that in the future, when the weather may become even more dense, there will be three risks: the number of people who are undernourished worldwide, the price of food and the number of countries falling into poverty will . increase.