Extreme weather-floods and droughts is now linked with the record warmest year and decade - are these symptoms of climate change/global warming? The WMO’s(World Meteorological Organization) Secretary General Michel Jarraud explained the deviation from the norm (diplomaticallyincorrect.org/films/movie/red-hotglobal-record-temperatures/24139 ): “What we can say is that with global warming, some of these events will become more frequent, or more intense, so let me take for example, the Russian heat wave. You cannot say uniquely it was due to global warming, but what you can say is that what is right now totally exceptional will happen more frequently in the future. The other thing we can say is what we see is compatible with global warming.” Mr. Jarraud continues: “2010 was characterized by a number of extreme events. One of the most notable was the heat wave in Russia, and at the same time, the devastating monsoon floods in Pakistan and the surrounding areas. The two were combined. The two were due to the same atmospheric anomaly, so the two events which took place at the same time were meteorologically linked to each other.” More Extreme in the Extremes: A very cold NY Weekend In a previous release, the WMO attributed some current weather events, as the Australia floods, to the La Nina cycles. However, other events as the flooding in Brazil beyond expected geographic ranges cannot be yet explained by normal cycles nor can the most recent extremes be seen as falling within expected deviations. All of the talk of record high average temperatures appears a little surreal to write about today, from NY City on one of the coldest weekends in the recent past. In fact, cold winters have persisted in many parts of the United States and Europe foe a couple of years. The last summer, while it was exceptionally warm in the Northern Hemisphere also was one of the coldest in the Southern. “Global warming” may be subtler by the numbers but it is more extreme in the extremes. Too Hot to Handle? Diplomacy and the United Nations are at the center of this debate, not only as observers and recorders of trends but as the most expected to be able to deliver global consensus and action about what needs to be and should be done. Setting aside the debate on exact cause, there are three factors to consider that go beyond the meteorological analysis: • Expectations for effective international cooperation regarding greenhouse gasses have been significantly dashed, (after the general failures of the Copenhagen talks at end of 2009 and the far more modest non-binding arrangement produced by the Cancun talks at end of 2010. • China is now consuming 3X more coal than the US for electricity generation. • On the other hand, the amount of energy required to produce a unit of gross domestic product is declining almost everywhere, according to statistics from “The Economist’s Daily Chart Blog.” Weather More Predictable than Consensus to Address As fossil fuel prices have sharply risen over the last few years, (at least in part driven as much by speculation of future demand as the reality of such), this may come to be a significant factor in depressing fossil fuel use and perhaps greenhouse emissions. From this example, it is probably only certain to conclude that nothing is absolutely certain. Compelling evidence supports the tendency toward extreme weather with its traumatic effects for man and nature. How and if at all will this catastrophic trend be reversed or at least slowed remains to be seen. It is dangerous though to be mere bystanders in this trend and claim it is beyond our control. See film reports on Extreme Weather: “Extreme Weather/Floods & Droughts” - diplomaticallyincorrect.org/films/movie/extreme-weatherfloods-droughts/24068 "Greenhouse Gases at Record Levels - Gisele Bundchen, UN Goodwill Ambassador for UN Environment Program" internationalfinancialcrisis.org/films/movie/greenhouse-gases-record-levels/23825 "Japan Summit-Focus on Climate Challenges" -http://internationalfinancialcrisis.org/films/movie/japan-summit-focus-on-climate-challenges/22677 "Cancun Climate Talks/What Next?" -http://internationalfinancialcrisis.org/films/movie/climate-talks-cancunwhat-next/23811 “More Floods in Sri Lanka” - diplomaticallyincorrect.org/films/movie/more-floodssri-lanka/24123 “Red Hot?/Record High Temperatures”- diplomaticallyincorrect.org/films/movie/red-hotglobal-record-temperatures/24139 “Pakistan Floods/Ban Ki-moon visit” - pakistanwebtv.com/films/movie/pakistan-ban-ki-moon-wrap/21286 “2010-A Bad Year for Disasters” - humanitarianwebtv.com/films/movie/2010refugees-bad-year-for-disasters/23883 “Angelina Jolie in Pakistan” pakistanwebtv.com/films/movie/angelina-jolie-in-pakistan/21642 “Benin Floods” - humanitarianwebtv.com/films/movie/benin-floods/22786 “Kenya Fights Drought” – humanitarianwebtv.com/films/movie/kenya-fights-drought/22789 PARODY – “Let Them Drown & Starve” - undiplomatictv.com/films/movie/let-them-drown-starve/21752 EVEN MORE FILM REPORTS @: www.unitednationswebtv.com www.internationalfinancialcrisis.org www.humanitarianwebtv.com www.pakistanwebtv.com as well as www.diplomaticallyincorrect.org