Tag Archives: Natural Disasters

Predictions of climate change induced natural disasters falling flat

Former vice president Al Gore famously used an image of Hurricane Katrina to illustrate his argument that natural disasters will increase in intensity and frequency.  Empirical data howeverhas shown that is not the case. (An Inconvenient Truth)
Former vice president Al Gore famously used an image of Hurricane Katrina to illustrate his argument that natural disasters will increase in intensity and frequency. Empirical data howeverhas shown that is not the case. (An Inconvenient Truth)

Manmade climate change is said to present humankind with some of its greatest challenges in the planet’s history, not the least of which is an alarming increase in frequency and intensity of natural disasters. Massive flooding, super-powered hurricanes, endless tornado seasons and more have all been said to be the direst of consequences of global warming.

In his movie “An Inconvenient Truth”, Al Gore famously proclaimed that, “Temperature changes are taking place all over the world and that is causing stronger storms.” Standing with Hurricane Katrina as a backdrop, the former vice president issued a cautionary tale of disaster in the making, all due to our irresponsible handling of the atmosphere. As recently as February Mr. Gore was giving a presentation showing flooding, drought and wildfires saying, “This is creating weather-related disasters that are completely unprecedented.”

President Barack Obama, in a town hall meeting in April echoed the Nobel laureate’s comments saying, “You’re now looking at huge, cataclysmic hurricanes, complete changes in weather patterns.” He followed that in September when in a speech before the United Nations he claimed, “More powerful storms and floods threaten every continent.”

But what if you predicted global natural disaster catastrophes and they didn’t happen? Does that invalidate your entire message? This is the conundrum faced by climate change alarmists as many of their predictions begin to fall flat.

There's more to this story on the Denver Weather Examiner's site!Learn more about the evidence and find out why even some alarmists say these claims of ‘doom and gloom’ are hurting their case on Examiner.com.

The Natural Disasters Examiner – The place for all the latest on the events that affect us all

The Natural Disasters Examiner provides news, information and education on disasters across the globe.
The Natural Disasters Examiner provides news, information and education on disasters across the globe.

Following on our announcement of our writing the Climate Change Examiner, we are pleased to announce that we are now also writing the Natural Disasters Examiner.  From earthquakes to tsunamis and hurricanes to tornadoes the Natural Disaster Examiner covers natures events that affect all of our lives.

We cover these type of events on a local scale here on ThorntonWeather.com and in our Denver Weather Examiner pages.  However, the Natural Disasters Examiner expands that scope to include the globe. 

We will examine all natural disaster type events no matter where they occur and we will provide more than just the news.  On the Natural Disasters Examiner’s site we will provide education on the science behind these disasters and practical information on how you can protect yourself and your family. 

We encourage you to check out the Natural Disasters Examiner on Examiner.com by clicking here. 

We also have provide links to it and the Denver Weather Examiner and Climate Change Examiner below the menu on the left.

What are the chances the weather will kill you?

What are the odds that a weather event will be your undoing?  Image courtesy WeatherGeekStuff.com.
What are the odds that a weather event will be your undoing? Image courtesy WeatherGeekStuff.com.

In an interesting piece from the National Safety Council, they outline many of the unnatural ways you could die and what the chances are that they would actually happen. The good news is that weather most likely won’t kill you. The bad news is there are lots of other ways that you have a better chance of dying from. 

Over your lifetime, the NSC calculates you have a 1 in 22 chance (YIKES!) that you will die from something other than natural causes. Motor vehicle accidents are probably the most common way with a 1 in 84 chance you will die in a crash. Hmmm. I think I will walk home – at least then my chances jump to 1 in 267! 

As for the weather and other disasters…
  • Your chances of being struck by lightning and dying? 1 in 81,949. Pretty slim odds there. You are more likely to drown in your own bath tub (1 in 11,079). 
  • What about earthquakes, the one natural disaster that scares me more than any? 1 in 103,004 chance you will die in a temblor. That’s about the same as dying from overexertion (1 in 119,098). I guess maybe I am relatively safe from those after all, especially since I don’t live in California anymore!
  • What about the chances of dying in a major storm? Not looking too good there – a 1 in 4,361 chance you will die that way. Talk about Mother Nature’s wrath!  That’s about the same chance as you dying from choking on your dinner (1 in 4,411). 
  • Flooding can be a concern in some areas of the nation. You have a 1 in 317,595 chance of dying that way. You have a better chance of dying from electrocution from a live power source than that (1 in 36,297). 
  • All in all, the statistics say that you have a 1 in 1,749 chance of dying from some force of nature, about the same odds of dying from assault with a sharp weapon (1 in 1,817). 
I suppose those aren’t too bad of odds, especially when contrasted with every day dangers such as driving a car like we mentioned above. Other every day dangers that give you a good chance of taking a dirt nap? You have a 1 in 1,456 chance of dying in an uncontrolled building fire. Heading to the hospital? You have a 1 in 1,437 chance of dying from medical / surgical complications. That mean, neighbor dog? You have a 1 in 115,489 chance that it or another dog will kill you. 
 
In the end, weather probably shouldn’t worry you too much.  Do you have a weather or natural disaster fear?  Let us know!  Leave a comment below!
This article was also posted to the Denver Weather Examiner site. Get more local news and information on Examiner.com.  Denver Weather Examiner