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| Technology Review |
Many climate models suggest that heat waves and droughts will increase as greenhouse-gas levels increase in the atmosphere (see "Planning for a Climate-Changed World" and "How Coders Can Help Fight Climate Change" ). But are the current conditions—and other extreme weather like the drought in Texas last year—related to climate change?
Technology Review asked the prominent climate scientist, Thomas Karl, director of the National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, North Carolina, to weigh in.
1. What's causing the recent heat waves and droughts?
This heat wave has a contribution from human activities, and you can expect these kinds of things to become even more extreme during both your and my lifetimes as we continue to increase greenhouse gases. As temperatures warm, they affect extreme weather events. It's quite clear that we're seeing, not only here in the U.S., but across the globe, events that we've never before witnessed in our instrumental record, and it's quite apparent there's a human contribution.
Technology Review asked the prominent climate scientist, Thomas Karl, director of the National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, North Carolina, to weigh in.
1. What's causing the recent heat waves and droughts?
This heat wave has a contribution from human activities, and you can expect these kinds of things to become even more extreme during both your and my lifetimes as we continue to increase greenhouse gases. As temperatures warm, they affect extreme weather events. It's quite clear that we're seeing, not only here in the U.S., but across the globe, events that we've never before witnessed in our instrumental record, and it's quite apparent there's a human contribution.
Technology Review: Is Climate Change to Blame for the Current US Drought?
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