The head of Roshydromet, Maxim Yakovenko, is sure that we already live in a changed climate. This is proved by observations of abnormal weather in Russia, the Arctic and other countries. For example, in January 2018, snow fell in the Sahara desert, it reached a thickness of 40 centimeters. The same thing happened in Morocco, this is the first case in half a century. In the United States, severe frosts and heavy snowfalls have led to casualties among people. In Michigan, in some areas, they reached minus 50 degrees. In Florida, the cold literally immobilized iguanas. And in Paris at that time there was a flood.
Moscow was overcome by temperature fluctuations, the weather rushed from thaw to frost. If we recall 2017, it was marked by an unprecedented heat wave in Europe, which caused drought and fires. In Italy it was 10 degrees hotter than usual. And in a number of countries, a record positive temperature was noted: in Sardinia – 44 degrees, in Rome – 43, in Albania – 40.
Crimea in May 2017 was littered with snow and hail, which is completely uncharacteristic for this time. And 2016 was marked by records of low temperatures in Siberia, unprecedented precipitation in Novosibirsk, Ussuriysk, unbearable heat in Astrakhan. This is not the whole list of anomalies and records over the past years.
“For the past three years, Russia has held the record for an increase in the average annual temperature for more than a century and a half. And over the past decade, the temperature in the Arctic has been rising, the thickness of the ice cover has been decreasing. This is very serious,” says the director of the Main Geophysical Observatory. A.I. Voeikov Vladimir Kattsov.
Such changes in the Arctic could inevitably lead to warming in Russia. This is facilitated by human economic activity, which causes an increase in CO emissions.2, and over the past decade, the psychological safety margin has been exceeded: 30-40% higher than in the pre-industrial era.
According to experts, extreme weather every year, only in the European part of the world, claims 152 lives. Such weather is characterized by heat and frost, showers, drought and sharp transitions from one extreme to another. A dangerous manifestation of extreme weather is temperature fluctuations of more than 10 degrees, especially with the transition through zero. In such conditions, human health is at risk, as well as urban communications suffer.
especially dangerous abnormal heat. According to statistics, it is the cause of 99% of deaths due to the weather. Abnormal weather and temperature fluctuations weaken the immune system due to the fact that the body does not have time to adapt to new conditions. It is harmful to the cardiovascular system, can cause an increase in pressure. In addition, the heat affects mental health: it increases the risk of psychological diseases and exacerbation of existing ones.
For the city, extreme weather is also harmful. It accelerates the destruction of asphalt and the deterioration of the materials from which houses are built, increases the number of accidents on the roads. It provokes problems for agriculture: crops die due to drought or freezing, the heat promotes the reproduction of parasites that destroy the crop.
Aleksey Kokorin, head of the Climate and Energy Program at the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), said that the average temperature in Russia has risen by 1.5 degrees over the century, and if you look at data by region and season, this figure jumps chaotically, then up, then down.
Such data is a bad sign: it is like a shattered human nervous system, which is why climatologists have a term – a nervous climate. It is clear to everyone that an unbalanced person behaves inappropriately, then he cries, then explodes with anger. So the climate of the same name produces either hurricanes and downpours, or droughts and fires.
According to Roshydromet, 2016 extreme weather events occurred in Russia in 590: hurricanes, tornadoes, heavy rains and snowfalls, droughts and floods, extreme heat and frost, etc. If you look into the past, you can see that there were half as many such events.
Most climatologists began to say that a person needs to get used to the new climate and make every effort to adapt to abnormal weather events. In a nervous climate, the time has come for a person to be more sensitive to the weather outside the window of his house. In hot weather, stay out of the sun for a long time, drink enough water, carry a spray bottle of water with you, and spray yourself from time to time. With noticeable temperature changes, dress for cold weather, and if it gets hot, you can always cool off by unbuttoning or taking off your clothes.
It is important to keep in mind that a strong wind makes any temperature colder, even if it is zero outside – the wind can give a feeling of cold.
And if there is an abnormally large amount of snow, then the risk of an accident increases, ice may fall from the roofs. If you live in an area where a strong gusty wind is a manifestation of the new climate, then take into account that such a wind knocks down trees, demolishes billboards and much more. In hot summers, it is necessary to take into account the fact that there is a danger of fires, so be careful when making fires in nature.
According to experts’ forecasts, Russia is in the zone of the greatest climate change. Therefore, we should start taking the weather more seriously, respecting the environment, and then we can adapt to a nervous climate.