Throughout Module 2 we have continued to learn that climate change is happening, and it is happening rather quickly. The problems that climate change produce include rising sea levels, more intense storms, drought and many other environmental catastrophes. I found an article in the New York Times called El Nino Storms Put Pacifica Cliff Apartments at Risk. These apartments have been built on cliffs right on the coast of the Pacific Ocean, but due to erosion from intense storms, the cliffs have snuck up right under these homeowners back porches.

Although California has seen a long and unforgiving drought, this is not the kind of rain that they were hoping for. The storms have become so severe that they are chiseling away at the side of the cliffs. The apartments have become uninhabitable due to the threat and the reality of them falling into the crashing waves below. The article states that, “Scientists have warned for years that long-term soil erosion and rising sea levels are contributing to increased flooding, cliff failures, severe storms and large scale changes down the Pacific Coast.”

After reading through Module 2 I finally, truly understand the connection between climate change and intensity of storms. When more moisture is in the air (like what is happening now due to the increase in air temperature) it means that there is more energy, and therefore creates more powerful storms than what the human world has ever seen before. This makes me wonder whether or not the El Nino is more strong and destructive than previous ones, or if last weekend’s snow storm, that essentially came “out of the blue”, was linked to this increase in energy in our atmosphere. The storm that swept through the East Coast left countless towns with new records of snowfall.

This article shows how climate change is already affecting and relocating Americans due to the intensity of the storms that come with it.

Reference

Southall, Ashley. “El Nino Storms Put Pacifica Cliff Apartments At Risk.” New York Times 26 Jan. 2016: n. pag. Print.