We've had shitty decades in the past but the worst may yet be to come.
The Fire Decade
We've already seen sparks of this decade to come. Greece's economic problems are in large part due to the massive wildfires they suffered from in 2007, 2009, and 2010. In 2010, 700 square miles of Russian landscape was burned by wildfires. Massive wildfires have become commonplace in the American West.
The Russian fires were set ablaze by a killer heatwave. Over 50,000 Russians were killed by temperatures 12 degrees F above normal. In 2003, a heatwave in Western Europe killed over 70,000. In 1995, 700 people in Chicago were killed by a five-day heatwave.
Yet, this is only prologue. As global temperatures increase with the increase in atmospheric CO2 they will not increase in a nice, steady, predictable manner. At some point in the future, regional temperatures will spike. It could be as early as the 2050s. A strong solar maximum coupled with a multi-year El Nino will inevitably send summertime temperatures soaring into uncharted ranges. Incredibly high temperatures, think August highs over 120 degrees F in New York City and London, will kill thousands. The heat will spark massive wildfires with the accompanying droughts limiting the ability to fight the fires. Smoke and ash will cool things for a few months only to see the high temperatures return with a vengeance the following summer. Continue the cycle for several consecutive years and we'll see regional climates in many places that will make Hell look inviting.
Tomorrow, another worst decade prediction. The Flood Decade.
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
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