Due to an increase in ocean and land temperatures attributed largely to human-caused climate change, extreme weather events, such as hurricanes, thunderstorms and tornadoes, will happen more often and are predicted be more severe. This is especially evident in Atlantic Canada. Since 1995, there has been a large upswing in the number of hurricanes and their intensity — the average energy released by a hurricane has increased by 70 percent over the past 30 years — as is evident in monsters such as Hurricane Juan, which ripped through Atlantic Canada on September 29, 2003, causing eight deaths and roughly $150 million in damages.
Photo: © Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA/GSFC
