Factors of Extreme Heat Waves in US during 2012

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1. Introduction

July 2012 was the hottest month in the history of the United States. Besides breaking previous summer records in record-holder books, the heat waves caused billions of damage to society. During that year, United States also witnessed numerous massive tornadoes, ice storms, wind storms, wildfires, droughts and hurricanes. Is it over? Are we going to witness similar extreme events in the future? This essay will try to answer all those questions mainly discussing factors which caused those extreme events. It’ll also explain the expected scenario in the near future, highlighting possible risks involved. Various research studies claim that these events are likely to occur four times in the future. Some research pinpoints human involvement in a damaging environment which caused these extreme weather events while other completely denies it. This essay will present a clear picture by analyzing findings from different researches. It will summarize what measurements are being considered in the future to counter the problem.

2. Discussion

Global warming has been touted as a major factor that caused extreme heat waves in 2012. Climate change is taking place and it’s evident from the numerous extreme events observed in the US and worldwide during 2003, 2010 and 2012. Scientists researched ground-level readings from pre-industrial areas in the US calculated hundred years ago. They compared this data against measurements taken in 2012 which hinted that those extreme heat waves were caused as a gradual change in climate. There was no factor observed, which hinted the involvement of Global Warming. “Diffenbaugh and Scherer’s research don't pinpoint global warming as the cause of particular extreme weather events” (Diffenba...

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...-38. Web. 14 Aug. 2013.

Institute of Physics. "Heat waves to become much more frequent and severe." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 15 August 2013. Web. N.D.

Uni Research. "Developing better weather forecasts." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 1 November 2013. Web. N.D.

Wiley - Blackwell. "WIREs: A New Approach to Understanding Climate Change." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 11 January 2010. Web. N.D.

University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. "Looking to the past to predict the future of climate change." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 5 August 2013. Web. N.D.

University of York. "It's not just the heat, it's the ozone: Hidden heat wave dangers exposed." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 19 July 2013. Web. N.D.

Princeton University. "Even if emissions stop, carbon dioxide could warm Earth for centuries." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 24 November 2013. Web. N.D.

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