3.3 State of the climate: extreme events

Follow this link to major climate events created by Climate.gov, then select 2013 and find the nearest major climate event listed to where you are now. Does this provide further evidence of climate change or does it add more complexity to the issue?

The major climate events shown on the map show that in subsequent years there can be a “warmest on record” event, followed by a “coldest on record” one. This shows that there are changes happening. Climate change does not necessarily mean warming of every area on the planet. Changes in weather patterns can affect the climate in a number of ways, some of these having cooling effects.

The example given is the record extent of sea ice in the Antarctic. At first glance this could be taken for good news, it’s not melting! However researchers attribute this to a change in the weather system to the North, which increase the winds across Antarctica. These increase winds actually cool the continent, increasing the sea ice. It is a seemingly counter intuitive result of warming in other regions, showing that climate change works on a global scale, as well as in microclimatic events.

Refs:
http://www.climate.gov/news-features/featured-images/state-climate-extreme-events
http://nsidc.org/news/newsroom/20121002_MinimumPR.html