{"id":14521,"date":"2024-07-23T11:15:46","date_gmt":"2024-07-23T08:15:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/mena\/?p=14521"},"modified":"2024-07-23T11:21:15","modified_gmt":"2024-07-23T08:21:15","slug":"extreme-weather-is-climate-change-to-blame","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/mena\/en\/extreme-weather-is-climate-change-to-blame\/","title":{"rendered":"Extreme weather: is Climate change to blame?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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An Iraqi man walks on dry, cracked earth in the Chibayish marshes near the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah on 25 June 2015. \u00a9 AFP
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Heatwaves, flooding and other extreme weather appear to be happening more often, and getting more severe. But how much of it is down to climate change?<\/h2>\n\n

What is extreme weather?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

Extreme weather is any weather that\u2019s unusually severe, frequent or unexpected for the local climate. In the age of climate change, extreme weather means more heatwaves, drought, excessive rain, storms and even very unusually cold weather.<\/a> <\/p>\n\n

The impacts of extreme weather are often devastating. Higher temperatures cause more powerful and destructive storms. More rain can cause flooding. Wildfires start and spread more easily in heatwaves. And rising sea levels can make storm surges worse, causing coastlines to erode faster.<\/p>\n\n

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Heavy rainfall caused catastrophic flooding in Derna, northeastern Libya, on September 11, 2023. \u00a9 AFP\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

How is global warming affecting weather patterns?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

Climate change<\/a> means long-term changes to broad weather patterns that take place over several decades. (That\u2019s why it\u2019s been difficult to link any single extreme weather event to climate change.)<\/p>\n\n

Scientists are now finding that significant changes to weather patterns may be happening over much shorter timescales, due to global average temperature rises driven by increasing greenhouse gas emissions. <\/p>\n\n

This is what\u2019s making extreme weather more likely and more severe.<\/p>\n\n

What’s the <\/strong>difference between weather and climate<\/strong><\/a>.

Weather<\/strong> is what we experience day to day: sun, rain, wind or snow. It can be unpredictable and there is a lot of local variation.
Climate<\/strong> is the average weather in a specific area over a long time \u2013 typically 30 years or more.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n

How does climate change cause extreme weather?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Global warming is causing heat waves, drought and wildfires through an increase in overall temperatures.<\/p>\n\n

As temperatures warm, it rains more heavily<\/a>, causing flooding. This is partly because warmer air can hold more moisture \u2013 meaning more intense rainfall. And some places, including the UK, suffer long droughts followed by severe flooding<\/a> \u2013 because dried-out soil cannot absorb heavy rains.<\/p>\n\n

Storms are becoming more intense too. This is because warmer sea surface temperatures increase wind speeds.<\/a><\/p>\n\n

Even extremely cold weather<\/a> is linked to climate change.<\/p>\n\n

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