Is frequent extreme weather becoming the norm?

As I peruse the internet for articles on extreme weather events around the world, I cannot help but notice most articles are reporting on a recent reports that have come out of the climate change conference. 194 countries plan to meet tomorrow in South Africa (Monday, Novemeber 28th) to discuss what they plan to do about these increasing threats. Some of the problems they plan to address include who will help to fund developing countries in their needs for disaster prevention, safety and relief, how to protect rain forests and the need for clean energy and technology. Many developing countries feel that their needs are being neglected and they are not receiving the help they truly need in these disasters increasing in frequency.

Some of the main obstacles come from the United States Congress, and other climate-change skeptics that believe human influence on the increasing problems is non-existent. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change worries that there is not enough faith in scientifically-based evidence, as they just recently released a detailed report on the increasing frequency and intensity of storms around the world (such as cyclones, droughts, and others).

These conferences tend to largely criticize the United States for their lack of effort towards reducing their emissions, even though they play a large role in green house gas emissions. The U.S. has previously rejected Kyoto Protocol, which required countries to reduce their overall emissions.

More on this, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/28/science/earth/nations-meet-to-address-problems-of-climate-change.html

Weather Predictions for the Future Contains More Extremes

Recently the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a report that top scientists predict more extreme weather patterns in the future. In the final pages of the report, scientists claim that there is a 2-in-3 probability that extremes within the climate have already intensified due to an increase in man-made greenhouse gases. Single-day rainstorms that in the past have occurred approximately every twenty years, may now occur at a rate of twice a decade. With drying and warming conditions, increase in droughts is a definite possibility as well.

Scientists claim an event like the flooding in Thailand can also be viewed as a way to depict how closely related climate is to other things such as overpopulation, urban development and river management. An interesting time to report on the effects of overpopulation, as we reached seven billion people as of Halloween.

This story was found at:  http://www.usatoday.com/weather/climate/globalwarming/story/2011-11-01/climate-weather-extremes/51031618/1