Natural “disasters” are the result of either:
- Geologic “events”, such as earthquakes and volcanoes or
- Weather-related “events”, such as severe storms, flooding, extreme temperatures, drought and wildfires.
The graph shows geologic-related disasters (tan bars) – that are not affected by climate – have changed little since 1950. However, driven by a changing climate, the number of weather-related disasters (blue bars) are on a rising trend (purple line), having increased from less than 50 per year in the 1950s to over 350 per year world-wide since 2000! The economic damage of these disasters is shown by the red line, and is also on the upswing.
Photo Credit: US Forest Service
For more maps and info on the July 2016 flood at Bad River Reservation visit: Bad River 2016 Flood (usgs.gov)
Here in northern Wisconsin, we have experienced our own extreme weather disasters, including the July 2016 storm that dumped 8-10 inches of rain in 8 hours. Flood waters spread far beyond the banks of the Bad River, completely cutting off all road access to the Reservation Community.
In July 2019, a derecho – “a widespread, long-lived straight-line windstorm” (Wikipedia) hit northern Wisconsin, uprooting trees, snapping off treetops and flattening hundreds of thousands of acres of forests, with winds at 100 mph in the hardest hit areas.
There are many more impacts due to climate change, and they will continue to increase as human contributions to greenhouse gases (GHGs) continue to grow and global temperatures continue to rise.
NOW is the time to take action, plan ahead and be prepared.
What other impacts can we expect here in Forest County from a warming planet? Up next in flyer 6!
