The disasters in 2011 broke the record, surpassing the total in the 1980s, and the United States is afraid of "big trouble"

The disasters in 2011 broke the record, exceeding the total in the 1980s, and the United States was afraid of "big trouble". So far this year, the United States has suffered more than 1...

So far this year, there have been 12 climate disasters in the United States with losses exceeding US$1 billion, breaking the previous record of nine in 2008. Tornadoes, floods, heavy snowfall, droughts, heat waves and wildfires hit each other, causing total losses of US$52 billion, more than the total in the 1980s. Scientists pointed out that this may be a precursor to "big things" to come.

The United States Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) uses the loss of a single climate event to reach US$1 billion as the standard for determining a "climate disaster". The administration added two more disasters to the list on the 7th, namely wildfires in Texas, New Mexico and Arizona, as well as tornadoes and extreme weather in mid-June, bringing the total number of disasters this year to 12.

According to US Meteorological Director Hayes, more than 1,000 people have died in the United States due to extreme weather this year. He has never seen such extreme weather in one year, calling it "deadly, devastating and cruel 2011."

This year’s climate disaster may not stop there. Catastrophes still on the list include Tropical Hurricane Rey and a pre-Halloween snowstorm in the Northeast, with losses currently at $750 million.

Scientists blame the extreme climate on an unfortunate combination of global warming and unusual probabilities. But even taking human-caused climate change into account, the number of disasters exceeds expectations. For example, the occurrence of 6 large tornadoes cannot be attributed to global warming.

Climate scientist Mir of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) said: "The devastation of the disaster is so severe that it is easy for people to assume that this is a signal that something big is about to happen."

NOAA director Rutsenko also said: "What we have seen this year is not just an anomaly, but a precursor to something big happening," including heat waves, droughts and other extreme climates.

Rutsenko also pointed out that every disaster causes many people to suffer. Six tornadoes killed 540 people. In the first four days of April, there were 343 tornadoes, including 199 on one day, both breaking records.

In addition, wildfires burned more than 1 million acres in Texas, and Oklahoma also experienced the highest temperature ever recorded in the United States. Rainfall in the Ohio Valley was three times normal, causing major flooding in the Mississippi River Basin.

Oppenheimer, a professor of geography at Princeton University, said that the world must therefore do two things: reduce exhaust emissions to minimize global warming, and make more preparations for extreme climates.