07/09/2004

A summer of freak weather

From Britain to California, Japan to Australia, freak weather this summer affected millions of people, claiming hundreds of lives and livelihoods. Eastern and Southern Asia suffered severe flooding caused by the worst monsoon season in 6 years. Heavy rains affected more than 3.5 million people in Bangladesh, and caused the deaths of 900 people, as mountain torrents, landslides and mud-rock flows decimated communities.

On August 15th, $11 billion worth of damage was caused when Hurricane Charley ravaged the West Coast of the U.S. The 145mph winds snapped mature trees, tore off roofs, and swept away mobile homes, leaving in their wake a disaster zone. A mere three weeks later, Hurricane Frances struck.

On the anniversary of the searing record-breaking, Europe-wide heat wave that left 35,000 people dead in 2003, meteorologists have reported record rainfalls. According to experts, this August was the wettest on record with 120mm of rainfall, compared to the UK average of 7mm. The wet weather wreaked havoc on the coastal village of Boscastle in Cornwall, which became a victim of flash flooding. In just under two hours, 3 inches of rain - an entire month’s worth - fell in the hills above Boscastle, producing a three metre high wall of water that tore through the village, causing buildings to collapse and sweeping 50 cars out to sea. It is estimated that 3 tons of water cascaded down the valley. Torrential rains also hit Scotland, causing a series of land-slips from which fifty-seven people had to be airlifted to safety.

Abnormally hot weather fanned the flames of record wildfires in California, which swept through the State destroying almost four million acres of forest. The fires follow five years of drought, the worst in 500 years, which created record amounts of tinder, and reduced the flow of the Colorado River by half. Parts of east and southern Africa have also been stricken by drought, whilst intense heat waves have struck Australia, Spain, Portugal and Japan.

The incidence of natural disasters is rising dramatically, with events such as temperature extremes and heavy rainfall occurring with increasing frequency. Mounting evidence suggests that these erratic weather patterns are a result of climate change.

Read more:

BBC: Europe Tackles Freak Weather Risk

Greenpeace International: Global Warnings - news story and video

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