Summer's Officially Over: What Did It Show Us About Climate Change?
After my recent column on how big business is coming together to defend global warming legislation in California, I was overwhelmed by the number of notes I received asking about the state of the global warming debate. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is in shambles, the U.S. Senate is stymied, and the public is losing confidence that climate change is real. But this past summer's crazy weather may be changing some minds. With summer 2010 now in our rear-view mirror, it's worth considering: Did global warming cause the once-in-a-lifetime weather events? New Yorkers dealt with a sweltering heatwave and were unsurprised to learn that the period from June to August shattered previous temperature records. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says that we've just lived through the hottest decade on record. And after this summer, with many countries, including Russia to Saudi Arabia, setting their all-time heat records, people all around the planet are asking whether carbon dioxide emissions could be to blame. Here's a quick roundup of extreme weather events this summer: Forest Fires in Russia This summer was the hottest on record for Russia, and the resulting wildfires plagued the country with smoky skies . More than a thousand people were killed and 300,000 acres were burned. The fires destroyed a naval base, and there were widespread fears that the radiation-contaminated area surrounding Chernobyl would be ignited. President Vladimir Putin, after a slow initial reaction, stepped into high gear, with state media filming him co-piloting a fire plane. Putin declared global warming a threat to Russia, a remarkable statement from a leader whose country's economy is based on carbon dioxide intensive fossil fuels. Pakistan Pakistan set the record this summer for the hottest temperature in Asia when it reached 129 degrees Fahrenheit. Meanwhile, floods ravaged Pakistan, with some estimates reaching as high as one-fifth of the country inundated by floodwaters and more than 1,500 people killed. Coral Bleaching The New York Times recently featured a story suggesting that the warmer-than-usual oceans might cause a repeat of the 1998 coral bleaching event, when 16 percent of the world's shallow-water reefs died. The period from January to August of this year matched the temperatures for the same period in 1998, the hottest year in the historical record. Reefs are sensitive to heat changes and shed their color, as if they were bleached white, in a last-ditch effort to survive. Walruses At Point Lay in Alaska, thousands of walruses are pulling themselves out of the water as the sea ice they depend on for foraging has disappeared. Estimates are that 10,000-20,000 walruses are hauling themselves out right now along the Chukchi coastline.