TWC’s Stu Ostro Talks Weather-Climate Links
By Andrew Freedman
(Originally published on Washington Post's Capital Weather Gang blog)
Extreme weather has dominated world headlines recently, with a record-smashing heat wave in Russia as well as deadly flooding in Pakistan that may rank as that country's worst natural disaster. Here at home, we've endured a sizzling summer, and NOAA announced last week that 2010 is still on track to be the warmest year on record (although La Nina may knock it back a rank or two).
The relationship between global climate change and these extreme events is complex in that climate change did not specifically cause them to occur, but likely did influence them, perhaps in significant ways. An article in Sunday's New York Times clearly laid that out, and (as I have previously noted), Jeff Masters of Weather Underground has provided uniquely in-depth coverage of possible links between climate change and extreme weather
Stu Ostro, senior meteorologist for The Weather Channel, is a rare breed of meteorologist who is increasingly focused on the intersection between climate and weather. A former climate change skeptic, he has compiled a lengthy presentation showing changes in weather patterns that he believes may be related to climate change.
In an email interview during the weekend, Ostro shared his thoughts on climate change and extreme events, and what has convinced him that climate change is now manifesting itself in daily weather patterns...
Read the full interview at Washington Post's Capital Weather Gang blog.
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