As severe heat and drought plague the Western U.S., the latest tropical system is forming in the Gulf of Mexico, headed for the soggy landscape of the Southeastern States. These parallel extremes illustrate the impact that global warming is beginning to bring.
While the long-term effects of climate change are difficult to determine with certainty, most climatologists anticipate that typically dry areas will get drier and repeated flooding will threaten normally wet areas. Warming sea water and rising air temperature will, of course, be the primary culprits, altering ocean currents and fueling extreme weather events (during all seasons).
Though we must focus our efforts on reducing carbon emissions and increasing carbon capture, it is also imperative to discourage further "development" in areas prone to the effects of drought, wildfires, flooding and rising sea levels. Otherwise, we face the prospect of social upheaval and economic disaster.
