Extreme Weather W hat is happening to the world’s weather From all parts of the globe reports are coming in of strange weather events that have never happened before On August 16 2004 the villages of Boscastle and Crackington Haven in Cornwall in England experienced flash floods Torrential rainfall 1 inch 24 mm in just 15 minutes led to a 6-foot 2-m rise in river levels in an hour A 10-foot 3-m wave traveling almost 10 mph 16 km h surged down the main road wrecking stores and houses uprooting trees and carrying cars out to sea A heap of cars in the village of Boscastle in Cornwall after the flood in August 2004 4
Hurricane Katrina was one of the five deadliest hurricanes in the history of the United States The hurricane formed over the Bahamas crossed Florida and then strengthened rapidly over the Gulf of Mexico On the morning of August 29 2005 Katrina hit New Orleans flooding more than 80 percent of the city Its wind speeds reached 175 mph 280 km h and at least 1,830 people lost their lives In February 2009 wildfires swept through the state of Victoria in southern Australia destroying entire towns More than 1,800 houses were burned down leaving 7,000 people homeless The fires caused such extensive damage because the land was very dry following a week of unusual extremely hot weather Daily temperatures had been almost 115 F 45 C every day of the preceding week and even the nighttime temperatures never dropped below 86 F 30 C Hurricane Katrina swirls over the Gulf of Mexico shortly before hitting the southern coast of the U S on August 29 2005 Extreme weather events like these have always occurred from time to time But many places now seem to be experiencing them on a more regular basis some areas are hotter some are drier the storms are much stronger the rain more torrential Is the world’s climate actually changing Why is it happening and what can we do about it Firefighters battle with bushfires in southern Victoria in Australia in February 2009
