Wicked Weather Weirding

Dr. Peter Carter, Paul Beckwith and Regina Valdez discuss the extreme and odd weather that has occurred recently (July 2021). The use of the word wicked was inspired from the Shakespearean quote from Macbeth “Something wicked this way comes.” Of course the ‘something’ is none other than Climate Change.

This video was recorded on July 23th, 2021, and published on August 4th, 2021.

Topics discussed include the following:

• How the effects of climate change have been much more extreme in the global south compared to the global north
• The global south has been experiencing the effects of climate change for quite some time
• The flooding in Germany and Brussels, as well as the loss of life.
• The flooding and loss of life in ZhengZhou, China
• The flooding in New York City and how the infrastructure of city’s subway system is no longer adequate as the climate is no longer stable
• How major cities of the world rely on subway systems. If people can’t rely on the subway, more of them will use cars for their daily commutes, which will result in amplifying feedback loops
• Heatwaves are accelerating around the world
• How the 2001 IPCC Assessment Report highlighted that extreme weather events were happening, and likely happening more frequently as a result of climate change
• The frequency of extreme weather events such as droughts, floods and fires and how the frequency of these events is going to rapidly increase
• Extreme heat in the Pacific NorthWest
• Mega drought in the southwestern US and how that area will become uninhabitable
• We need to be prepared for the next El Nino
• For every 1 degree C rise in temperature, there’s 7% more water vapour. When it condenses into the clouds it releases latent heat, so the atmosphere is charged with a lot more energy
• CAPE: Convective Available Potential Energy.
• Storm chasers look for the CAPE numbers to know where to look for storms
• How the slowing of the Jet Stream is affecting weather systems
• How the eastern US is experiencing poor air quality due to wildfires in the northwestern US
• The the impact of the pollution caused by the burning of fossil fuels on peoples’ health
• Wet bulb temperature: 35 degrees C – the temperature at which your body loses the ability to sweat
• Some of the technology that will become ubiquitous soon will be incorporating detectors of particulate counts: CO2, N2O, O3 into smartphones, smart watches, and other devices
• The AMOC (Atlantic Meridional Overturning Current) is slowing and less heat is going to Europe.

Links:

• Zhengzhou subway flooding a warning for other major cities

• Hail, tornadoes and flooded New York subways as stormy weather hits east coast

• Extreme weather is sweeping the world, with devastating floods and wildfires on 3 continents at once

• Projected Marine Heatwaves in the 21st Century and the Potential for Ecological Impact

• Burning embers: towards more transparent and robust climate-change risk assessments

• Impacts of 1.5C global warming on natural and human systems

• Exceptional Heat Hits Pacific Northwest

• New York air quality among worst in world as haze from western wildfires shrouds city

Panelists:

• Dr. Peter Carter - MD, Expert IPCC Reviewer and the director of the Climate Emergency Institute

• Paul Beckwith - Climate Systems Scientist. Professor at the University of Ottawa’s Paleoclimatology Laboratory as well as at Carleton University

• Regina Valdez - Program Director, Climate Reality Project, NYC. GreenFaith Fellow and LEED Green Associate

Video Production:

• Charles Gregoire – Climate Reality Leader, Electrical Engineer, Webmaster and IT prime for FacingFuture.Earth and the Climate Emergency Forum

• Heidi Brault - Climate Reality Leader, BA(Psychology), Library & Information Technician Diploma - Video production and website assistant - Organizer and convener, Metadata technician, COP26 Team Lead for FacingFuture.Earth and the Climate Emergency Forum.

Attributions:

Background Music:

• Title: Through the City II
• Author: Crowander
• Source: crowander.com

Image and Video:

• Image and Video Attributions