Hurricane Katrina, melting ice, drought, flooding - all indications of climate change. Add another - rain, rain, rain.
Eastern Canada (where I live) is experiencing roughly a 50% increase in precipitation over the last three decades. Generally this increase doesn't seem to be noticed, until this summer; the wettest on record.
It is almost the middle of August and we have had virtually two straight weeks of rain. I have had one available day to mow the lawn in the last two weeks. The stream beside my home is running like it is April not August. I wouldn't want to own a golf course this summer.
I have presented the live version of An Inconvenient Truth 65 times - one of the slides illustrates the increase and decrease in precipitation around the world over the last few decades. A few people have asked me after the presentations what the difference is between weather and climate. My answer goes something like this...
If the climate is Wayne Gretzky's or Gordie Howe's career then the weather is one game. Weather is what is happening right now. Climate is essentially a running 30 year average. There are good days (games) and bad days (games).
Gretzky and Howe had stellar careers and generally predictable results year over year - a bit like the climate. But how they did in any given game was anyone's guess (weather), yet somewhat predictable. Like weather there is good chance it will by sub-zero in February and warm in July, but how warm or how cold, or how much snow or rain on a given day - who knows.
Bottom line - the rain this summer is a drag.
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