Changing extremes – is it real, or just imagined?
Francis Zwiers, PCIC
Wednesday, March 30, 2016
Abstract:
Today’s electronic and print media are replete with stories about extreme weather and climate events from all over the world. These stories draw our attention because of their immediacy and the devastating impacts of these events, which often result in deaths and
hundreds or even billions of dollars in damage. In the aftermath of such devastation, media raise questions over whether extreme events are more frequent and intense than in the past, whether human activity is a driving force behind long-term changes, and most inevitably, if the particular event just passed was caused by human influence on the climate. All three of these questions will be discussed, and an overview will be given on the latest answers that climate science can provide.