By Marisa Larson, National Geographic staff

Global climate change is creating extreme and unpredictable weather around the world. From November 2006 to October 2007 there were heat waves in what are ordinarily colder northern climes and snow in southern temperate regions. There were also record droughts and floods, as well as extreme storms, such as hurricanes, in unusual places. Climate modelers had predicted freakish weather in response to global warming but could not forecast exactly where and when such anomalies would hit, says Jay Lawrimore, chief of climate monitoring at the National Climatic Data Center.

Last year England had its soggiest year since 1766, and monsoon rains doubled in India. Heat waves killed people in Eastern Europe and the U.S., and the Arabian Sea had its first Category 4 hurricane ever. Climate researchers expect more bizarre weather but say that it will move around, making it difficult to predict what—and where—it will hit.

Bibliography

O’Hanlon, Larry. “Wild Weather.” National Geographic (February 2008).

“Hazards/Climate Extremes.” NOAA Satellite and Information Service.

Climate change, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The PEW Center on Global Climate Change.

Climate change, United Nations Environment Program