Climate Disasters?

There’s not much evidence that the climate disasters the news media talks about are human-caused climate change disasters.

Here are some highlights from a recent X post:

❌ Hurricanes have 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆𝒅 in frequency since at least 1980.

❌ Major hurricanes show 𝒏𝒐 𝒔𝒊𝒈𝒏𝒊𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒅 since at least 1980.

❌ Wildfires have 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆𝒅 in frequency over the last two decades globally. So has burn area.

✅ Wildfires have 𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 such as the western U.S., but this is largely due to increased human ignitions in conjunction with poor city planning and forest management practices.

⚠️ Reductions in fire risk must focus on addressing the root problems. CO₂ emission reduction will not be very helpful, especially in the short term.

✅ Heatwaves have 𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆𝒅 in frequency, intensity and duration since 1950 at a global scale, and are projected to increase through 2100. However, these trends are not yet observed everywhere (e.g., eastern North America and in parts of South America).

⚠️ Future increases in heatwave occurrence may be partially offset by reduced atmospheric blocking highs that cause them due to Arctic amplification. This may also negate increases in duration, but it’s still a highly debated matter.

❌ Cold waves have 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆𝒅 since 1950 virtually everywhere and those trends are projected to continue throughout the remainder of the 21st century.