UT students and staff were recently given the opportunity to learn about extreme weather and the changing climate of Earth.
Last Thursday, Dr. Greg Forbes, severe weather expert on The Weather Channel, discussed emerging weather patterns in Florida.
A graduate of both Penn State University and the University of Chicago, Forbes started his talk by explaining that he entered the business only with the intention to save lives.
“I never thought I would be on TV,” he said.
Forbes discussed the different ways the Weather Channel has of warning people. He also showed that the leading weather related deaths in Florida are not hurricanes, as popularly believed, but rip currents, which cause about 200 deaths a year.
The controversial issue of global warming was also addressed.
Forbes cited recent weather and climate changes such as the Great Lakes freezing less and later, glaciers melting and more frequent flash flooding. Although patterns have been changing, Forbes wouldn’t say whether or not these things were directly related to global warming.
Though, he admitted, “the weather is getting a bit more extreme.”
There have been alarming signs in the last five years, including an increase in CO2, more record high temperatures, and the thinning of glaciers, Forbes said.
“A lot of symptoms show that things are not the way they used to be,” said Forbes.