Preparing for Extreme Weather

Preparing for Extreme Weather

Every year weather patterns across the world seems to be getting more and more extreme, but what really makes the news is the devastation, the damage that stays behind, the death toll that seems to be aiming for records and people still think this will not happen to them. It is becoming increasingly more evident that people should prepare for the worst, even if they live in a country, state or province where it is highly unlikely that any sort of extreme weather would upset their daily way of living.

The past few years' weather has not been only extreme, but has also been described as wild and weird by climatologist, Bill Patzert, in an article by Doyle Rice and William Welch. According to the news article there are still allot of uncertainty regarding to what is causing these weird weather patterns. At least two "prominent climate scientists" according to John Gillis from the Seattle Times, have theorized that these weird weather patterns are because of global warming; whereas others still persist they need more evidence to formulate a conclusion. Some say it is the weakening of the polar vortex (a circular movement of air trapping cold air in the North Pole) that is the cause. James Overland proposes that it is the heat over the Atlantic Ocean that is making the atmosphere less dense, but adds that his theory needs more research.

Whatever the cause of these "weird weather" patterns that the world is experiencing, it is clear that no one can stop it and even if they were able to stop it by omitting less greenhouse gasses, it will still take billions of years before a change will be noticeable. In the meantime, it's killing people, destroying houses, and costing billions of dollars. This year Australia suffered a 30 billion reduction in their GDP due to the Queensland flood, 200,000 people were affected and 35 people died. (Wikipeadia). Between 2009 and 2010 they experienced devastating wildfires due to record heat waves that brought on 1.1 million acres of devastated land, a death toll of 201 and 7500 people homeless ("Australia assesses fire damage"). No to mention the devastating hurricanes and floods in America and the number of people who are still struggling to rebuild their lives.

As shocking as all of this may be, what makes it worse is that Evan Bevins asked a few people what their feelings was about these changes and the extreme weather patterns, comments like "I'm not real concerned" and "Doesn't concern me. This is Ohio," were of the most frequently used. From statements like these one can only conclude that the general consensus is nothing needs to be done.

People need to prepare for the worse; they need to formulate a plan of action, not only for possible weather that may happen in their area but also for the impossible, floods,