There’s a lot of research on natural disasters that have repeatedly shown it’s socio-economic and political processes which determine how people react and react to extreme weather events, such as those we experienced during the flooding in New Orleans. Social factors and the underlying causes shape this vulnerability are primarily biological, not necessarily physical and are the result of the socio-political process of distributing resources within the society. There is a chance that we could be impacted with frequent extreme circumstances as a result ananthropogenic climate change or natural variations, but the primary focus should not be on mitigation.
There is a need to address the deeper issues that lead to the vulnerability of society i.e. inequal accessibility to the resources available, as well as cultural, political and social inequalities that determine how individuals as well as communities are impacted, and the ability of communities to deal with those consequences. This is being addressed in part through the planning of climate adaptation at both the global and national levels, but there is a significant shortfall in funding for these initiatives. This is especially relevant when we consider the social justice implications of climate change. Many of the nations and communities that will be the most affected by extreme weather events are in the developing world or indigenous communities that are on the margins and contribute the least to global emissions. These communities are having to confront the issues of dual exposure, i.e., the interplay between climate change and other globalization processes like increased urbanization, poverty, etc. No matter how the impacts of climate change can be predicted, the problem should be considered as a human rights or social justice perspective. More extreme weather events or climate change generally will affect the rights of many citizens to have a quality of life they cherish.
A number of dead from a 2009 landslide that occurred in the Philippines which killed around 200 people. The landslide was caused due to Typhoon Pepeng (known in the Philippines by the name of Parma).
Professor Christian Jakob, ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science, Monash University
Everyone experiences the climate as a series of weather-related events. Climate can actually be the accumulation or, in technical terms, probability density functions of weather. In turn, we’ll witness climate change by a change in the weather. This is a combination of “mean” temperature and extreme weather instances. Extreme weather phenomena are, by nature, very rare and occur at the very extreme ends of the spectrum of weather. In the end, the detection of changes in extreme weather instances due to changes in the climate is harder than finding differences in the mean climate. It requires a greater depth and length of records of data. This leads to a greater number of uncertainty in identifying the connection between changes in the climate and extreme events observed. It doesn’t mean the climate isn’t changing or that severe weather instances won’t be a part of this change. The more complex uncertainties of monitoring the current conditions and forecasting what the next steps will be for extreme weather phenomena all over the globe underscore the need to continue investigation into the relationship between severe weather and climate.
It was the Buckingham Bridge in Kelmscott, WA, was swollen after a forest fire was raging through the area in February, devastating about 70 houses and killing a tally of animals.
Associate Professor Stewart Franks, School of Engineering, University of Newcastle
Australia has an extensive and detailed record of variability in climate – but we are now facing the threat of human-caused climate change triggered by CO2 emissions emitted by humans. Despite the history of extreme temperatures, there is a real risk that we may be interpreting every drought or flood as a result of CO2 climate change. As a scientist who studies extreme hydrological phenomena, I am able to say that there isn’t any indication that there is “change” in terms of the frequency of these events. The truth is that the catastrophe is a natural event. The droughts that occurred in the early 20th century and the widespread flooding of the 1950s and 1970s prove the fact that extreme events can happen, and it’s not always our blame. At present, no research has been published to confirm that the contrary is true, but this assertion is frequently presented by those who deny the past.