Disasters 'prove that global warming is happening'

By Louise Gray, The Daily Telegraph August 10, 2010

The simultaneous catastrophes of flooding in Pakistan, wildfires in Russia and landslides in China are evidence that global warming predictions are correct, according to climate change experts.

They said the "extreme weather events" of recent months were all "unprecedented" and that such disasters, taken together, were proof of climate change.

Scientists also warned that widespread and devastating flooding would become more frequent and could be considered normal by the middle of the century.

Almost 14 million people have been affected by the torrential rains in Pakistan, and 1,600 have died, making it a greater humanitarian disaster than the South Asian tsunami and recent earthquakes in Kashmir and Haiti combined, the United Nations has said.

In Russia, firefighters and soldiers were battling to stop wildfires from engulfing key nuclear sites while Prime Minister Vladimir Putin took to the air in a water-bombing plane to join the effort. Morgues in Moscow are overflowing as officials estimate 5,000 have died in the worst heatwave in 130 years.

Flooding in China has killed more than 1,100 people this year and caused tens of billions of dollars in damage across 28 provinces and regions. Flash floods in France and Eastern Europe have killed more than 30 people over the summer.

Jean-Pascal van Ypersele, vice-president of the body set up by the UN to monitor global warming, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), said the "dramatic" weather patterns were consistent with changes in the climate caused by mankind.

"These are events which reproduce and intensify in a climate disturbed by greenhouse gas pollution," he said.

"Extreme events are one of the ways in which climatic changes become dramatically visible."

Meteorologists said the disasters in Russia, Pakistan and China have all been driven by a "supercharged jet stream". The jet stream, a vast ring of high-speed winds, has split in two with one section heading north over Russia and the other going south over the Himalayas into Pakistan. In Russia the stream is inhaling the heat and spreading it quickly, causing fires. However, in Pakistan it is "supercharging" the monsoon.

Dr Peter Stott, head of climate monitoring at Britain's Met Office, said there was "clear evidence" of a rise in the frequency of extreme weather events due to climate change. "The odds of such extreme events are rapidly shortening, and they could become considered the norm by the middle of this century," he said.

Prof Andrew Watson, of the University of East Anglia, said the extreme events are "fairly consistent with the IPCC reports and what 99 per cent of the scientists believe to be happening".

Climate change round the world

China:

At least 702 people died in northwestern Gansu province at the weekend when torrents of mud and rocks engulfed the town of Zhouqu. More than 1,000 were missing. A year of heavy flooding has already killed nearly 1,500.

Pakistan:

The UN said on Monday that the Pakistan flooding was the greatest humanitarian crisis in recent history, with more people affected than the 2004 Asian tsunami and the recent earthquakes in Kashmir and Haiti combined. More than 1,600 have been killed, while almost 14?million have been affected and need aid.

Central Europe:

At least 11 killed, and hundreds of homes damaged this week. Flooding in May and June killed 18 in Poland. Others died in the Czech Republic.

Kashmir:

Hundreds still missing in Indian Himalayas after flash floods hit remote Ladakh, killing at least 177.

Russia:

Heatwave estimated to have cost almost 5,000 lives. All exports of wheat and other grain halted after most of harvest wiped out by fires.

Australia:

Coldest June in nearly 30 years in Sydney. Temperatures hit 39F (4C).

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