What are natural disasters? A natural disaster is a natural occurrence that happens when certain conditions occur in nature. For example, flooding tends to happen when a bunch of rain gets piled up and has nowhere to go, which causes water levels to rise, leading into my first topic of this article. This week’s article will be talking about three different natural disasters going on right now and how climate change plays a part in this. These three topics are about Alaska’s big flood, Mississippi’s major damaging storms, and Hawaii’s ongoing cleanup process.
What’s going on in Alaska? This week in Alaska, a glacier burst causing major flooding and damage to a few homes and structures. The flooding was caused by a break in a Suicide Basin. The Suicide Basin is a side basin on the Mendenhall Glacier, which is located about 12 miles north away from the state’s capital. According to the National Weather Service Center, two homes have been damaged and one was washed away. As of right now, no one was injured or killed. Video proof shows homes being destroyed and washed away.
Mississippi’s major storms lead to death and destruction. Mississippi had been undergoing major storms late Sunday into early Monday. One person was killed and nineteen others were injured in the events of Sunday and Monday. The tornado caused a lot of damage around Bay Springs and Loulin.
Hawaii’s cleanup is still in process. Recently, Hawaii had a massive wildfire that destroyed 1,681 acres of land in Mililani Mauka. As of right now, the fire is 90% contained and being watched. 97 people have been killed by the fires. Cleanup is still in process.
How is climate change affecting this? Scientists have been researching climate for a great deal of time. Research shows that these frequent natural disasters are caused by climate change. According to the NOAA GOV, global temperatures rose about 1.98 Fahrenheit (1.1 Celsius) from 1901 to 2020. Climate change doesn’t just revolve around temperature rises, it also impacts the sea levels rising and increasing the likelihood of more natural disasters, but also changes the pattern of weather like droughts and flooding. Ultimately, leading to the destruction being caused by the aforementioned natural disasters.
