An August email from 350.org’s Bill McKibben, referred to this summer’s floods in Pakistan, fires in Russia, and mudslides in China as climate disasters.
McKibben is America’s leading environmentalist, he is also a prolific award winning author and educator. Although 350.org is primarily committed to the fight against global warming to prevent climate disasters, the organization is also helping with relief efforts by encouraging monetary donations to assist those besieged by extreme weather (see www.350.org/disasters).
Even though it is impossible to blame anthropogenic climate change for a single weather event, the torrential rains in Pakistan and China, and the heatwaves and drought in Russia are consistent with extreme weather predictions caused by global warming.
Regionally there have been record breaking temperatures from Finland to Kuwait, and downpours in China, Germany and Poland. It is a documented fact that 2010 is on tract to be the warmest year ever and with CO2 levels now at 392 many credible organizations including U.N. World Meteorological Organization (WMO) are attributing global warming to man made CO2.
According to Reinsurer Munich Re’s natural catastrophe database the number of extreme weather events like windstorm and floods have tripled since 1980, and the trend is expected to continue.
The U.N. panel of climate scientists said in a 2007 report that global warming had doubled the chances of heatwaves similar to a scorching 2003 summer in Europe, in which 35,000 people died. The report also indicates that with at least 90 percent certainty that most of the warming in the past 50 years was caused by mankind.
As Bill pointed out in his email, all of the countries recently devastated by the floods, mudslides, and heatwaves were hugely active in the International Day of Climate Action last October 24 and they’re all planning events for 10/10/10: the Global Work Party.
The 350.org 10/10/10 event is a day to celebrate climate solutions and push political leaderships to do the same. The floods, fires and mudslides that have killed thousands of people around the world draw attention to the most pressing concern of our time. Finding solutions to climate change will save thousands of lives today and millions of lives in the future.
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