The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has reported 2013 as 4th hottest year since records began in 1880 and with the United Kingdom experiencing its wettest since records began, one cannot argue that our weather is becoming more extreme.
The NOAA have identified 6 critical events in 2013 which suggest our weather is becoming more noteworthy.
- Typhoon Haiyan - was the strongest tropical cyclone on record to hit land.
- Australia recorded an average nationwide temperature rise of 2.16 °F (1.2 °C ).
- 140 Russian towns saw their worst flooding in 120 years.
- The United Kingdom witnessed its coldest spring in over 50 years.
- During the melting season, both the Arctic and Antarctic sea saw its ice shrink more than usual.
- Drought conditions have worsened to the west of America.
Considering California is the largest agricultural state in the country, the effects of the drought are significant.
These are a handful of the events that have occurred in 2013 and scientists are trying to predict what the pattern of events might mean and how we might manage these events with improved efficiency in the future.
In California, for example, scientists are looking to the ocean and more cost effective desalination methods to combat the unprecedented 3 year drought. San Joaquin Valley where most of the farming takes place will see delivery of water to the area drop by at least 50 per cent in 2014. The scientists are looking at using solar energy to power the plants.
Whilst desalination plants might solve California's immediate water problems, we need to fully understand recent climate change events and begin to plan with more urgency what might come in the future.