Just in case you’re still not sure that the climate is behaving a little strangely, in 2011:
- Greenhouse gases rose to record levels;
- Temperatures were the 11th highest ever recorded;
- The Arctic Sea ice melt almost equalled the 2007 record;
- The world had its 300th consecutive month of above average temperatures;
- North America experienced massive flooding of the Mississippi and Missouri;
- Australia experienced floods which covered an area larger than France and Germany combined;
- Floods in Thailand claimed 730 lives;
- The United States was hit by 1,600 tornadoes in six months;
- North China’s worst drought in 60 years continued;
- Somalia and the Horn of Africa experienced their worst drought in 60 years;
- Texas experienced a drought estimated to have killed between 100 and 500 million trees;
- Austin, Texas, had 90 days of temperatures above 100°F – 27 of them consecutively.;
- Much of Northern Europe had its driest year on record, with the Danube at its lowest level for 60 years;
- In January and February, major earthquakes hit Argentina, Chile, Iran, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Tonga, Burma, the Solomon Islands, Tonga, Sulawesi, Fiji and New Zealand;
- And, of course, a tsunami hit Japan killing 15,500 people and causing meltdowns of three nuclear reactors.
