2007 - A Year For Weather

The weather of the world has reached extreme levels as of this year. Records have been shattered across the globe, raising a frightening question - what’s next for Earth?

The planet’s waters faced trouble. Polar ice caps, already a worry for scientists, melted more than any other year on record. Greenland’s ice caps shrank dramatically, and the Northwest Passage is larger due to lack of ice. It was the third hottest year for the oceans as well.

Southern and southwestern areas of the United States suffered from some stretch of drought, especially during August. In the fall, California’s infamous Santa Ana winds provoked enormous wildfires throughout the state. Georgia, Minnesota, Texas, and Florida were also victims to dry weather.

Parts of Asia and Europe were on the other extreme. Record amounts of rain fell in England, China, and Wales.

Yet during the summer, Europe had extreme heat waves that killed dozens unable to stand the hot temperatures. England itself broke a heat record that had been held since 1865. Portland, Tennessee had 15 heat-related deaths caused by temperatures reaching up to 105 degrees Fahrenheit.

Other heat records were also set. American weather stations saw the worst of it in August - over 8,000 records were tied or broken. 263 all-time high temperature records were broken throughout America.

Even Australia could not hide from the temperature rises - it had the worst drought in an entire century.

Tornadoes also occurred in unusual places. In August, a tornado struck none other than New York City. Another one happened in the Middle East, tearing through Iran and Oman.

One would expect fingers to be pointed - perhaps at global warming - but scientists, believe it or not, say it’s normal. Man’s damage has been done, and it cannot be changed now.

It hasn’t stopped citizens’ concerns, however. Al Gore’s documentary on global warming, “An Inconvenient Truth,” won an Oscar and won a Nobel Peace Prize along with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Death rates have climbed into the hundreds from the enemy no one would have expected - ourselves.

“Pretty soon,” says a chief scientist of the Climate Institute of Washington, “odd years are going to become the norm.”