Extreme weather events have recently assumed a central role in the global warming discussion. Al Gore spent the majority of his recent “24 Hours of Reality” internet program on extreme weather. Peter Gleick last week wrote a Forbes.com column in which he asserted a disbelief in “the increasing severity of extreme weather events influenced by climate change” is what distinguishes scientific skeptics from anti-science “deniers.” According to a recently published United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, however, there are many scientific gaps regarding asserted connections between global warming and extreme weather events.
According to the IPCC report, there are good scientific reasons to doubt assertions that global warming is causing an increase in extreme weather events such as temperatures extremes, droughts, hurricanes, and floods. I discuss the IPCC report in greater detail in my Forbes.com column: available here.
