Despite common perception, Weather events have not increased over time… but observation & recording have.
(If a tornado happens on a lonely prairie, and no one video’s it, did it happen?)
http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/learning/library/publications/historical-facts
Some extreme world weather records http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/infographic-world-weather-records-severe-tropical/44856092
More “Extreme Weather” Pages – https://wattsupwiththat.com/reference-pages/climatic-phenomena-pages/extreme-weather-page/ – https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/tag/extreme-weather/
Drought in USA
We are constantly told that burning fossil fuels is causing drought in California: e.g. –
“Human-caused climate change helped fuel the current California drought, says a Stanford University study. Climate change has increased the chance that the two main weather conditions that led to the drought will occur at the same time, the study shows.”
But when you look at the historical data
Maybe having 39,309,017 people (who consume 38 billion gals of water/day) in a semi desert area, may have something to do with it.
http://ca.water.usgs.gov/water_use/2010-california-water-use.html
Harsh winters, UK list
| 1684 | River Thames froze for two months solid |
| 1739-40 | A severe frost that continued from Christmas Day, 1739, to February 17th, 1740. Temperatures dropped to -9C at one point. |
| 1836 | A tremendous blizzard and strong winds hit the whole of the south |
| 1927 | A blizzard which began on Christmas Day in the Midlands and Wales and resulted in some of the heaviest snowfalls of the 20th Century in Britain |
| 1933 | 48 hours of continuous snowfall. |
| 1940 | The Thames froze for the first time since 1880 and Sheffield saw 4ft of snow. |
| 1952-53 | In terms of loss of life the winter of 1952 was among the worst. It is believed the smog may have accounted for as many as 12,000 lives. the East Coast storm surge of 1953, the famous Lymouth disaster |
| 1946-1947 | The cold spells continued until March which saw heavy snow. |
| 1962-1963 | Saw the coldest weather for two hundred years. At its height a 36-hour blizzard caused heavy drifting snow in most parts of the country. |
| 1978-1979 | The run up to 1978 had, rather like 2015, been mild and dry in November – up until around the 24th of the month. As 1979 began the country was engulfed by blizzards and deep snow |
Complete listing from 1616 (a lot of cold winters)
http://www.netweather.tv/index.cgi?action=winter-history;sess=
http://booty.org.uk/booty.weather/climate/histclimat.htm
Central England Temperature extremes, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_England_temperature#Hottest
England and Wales Precipitation extremes, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/England_and_Wales_Precipitation
Source: http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/hadobs/hadukp/data/monthly/HadEWP_monthly_qc.txt
Wettest ever ….the 1870’s!
https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2015/12/30/the-decade-when-it-rained-and-rained-and-rained/
From – metoffice.gov.uk & https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/image_thumb54.png?w=780&h=462
‘Unprecedented’ (never done or known before) floods
Over the last few years the UK has been subjected to a number of major flooding events; we are told these are ‘unprecedented’ & due to ‘global warming’.
Human induced, CO2 driven catastrophic global warming / climate change (according to Warmists) only started in the
1980s;
So in that case, what caused these ?? – British Pathe films about flooding, between 1910 and 1969. http://www.britishpathe.com/workspaces/gaelle/PfZQgWrQ
York floods, Xmas 2015 reported as ‘unprecedented’ at 5.2m.: but in 2000 it was 5.4 & 1625 they had 11m.
The river Ouse caries millions of tons of silt & gravel every year, but the Environment Agency (EA) has cut the amount of dredging in the area over the last 10 years, reducing the capacity of the river to cope with any sustained rainfall.
The Foss flood barrier failed on Boxing Day because the EA had put all the electrical gear BELOW known flood levels. !!
http://coolgeography.co.uk/A-level/AQA/Year%2012/Rivers_Floods/Flooding/York%20Flooding.htm You couldn’t make it up.
York was undergoing periodic winter floods at the end of the Roman occupation (coincidentally ~ the end of the Roman Warm Period; a climate change – too many chariots perhaps ?? ) around 400 AD; it has been flooded almost every year since.
The Somerset levels 2014 ~ 65 km² was submerged because of high, but NOT exceptional (see precipitation chart ?) rainfall, coupled with 20 years of the Environment Agency refusing to dredge the rivers Cary, Yeo, Tone & Parrett, arguing that it is ‘anti-environmental’ !!
In 1919, 280 km² was submerged, but that was a saltwater storm surge coupled with reduction of dredging in the First World War.
The draining of the Somerset levels – https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=fQs9AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA271&dq=Somerset+levels++flood+history
Water Management in the English Landscape: Field, Marsh and Meadow – https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=ydXFAm75n0IC
Interesting bit of info here – https://sites.google.com/site/moonrakinimages/rof-pumps (I haven’t verified it yet, but it sounds about right)
History of The Somerset levels – http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/som/vol8/pp1-7 & https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somerset_Levels#Flooding
In 1607 a major storm in Somerset swept away villages down the Bristol Channel killing approx. 2,000 people (a high % of the local population). http://www.burnham-on-sea.com/1607-flood.shtml Download full paper here – http://ro.uow.edu.au/scipapers/94/
The Lake District
Severe floods also occurred in the Cockermouth Cumbria area in 1761, 1771, 1852, 1874, 1918, 1924, 1931/32/33, 1938, 1966,2005,2008,2009. (Environment agency). More detail here – https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2015/12/07/the-cumbrian-floods-in-perspective/
North East
500 year old Tyne Bridge in Newcastle collapsed from a massive flood, 12feet above high water (in 1771).
Account & pictures – https://stevengoddard.wordpress.com/2015/12/29/the-great-flood-of-1771/
July 1930 Devastating flood, Castleton N Yorks, 11.97 inches (304mm) of rain in 4 days. https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2015/12/30/devastating-yorkshire-floods-1930/
South Pennines
Calder Valley floods: 1837, 1859, 1866, 1891, 1901, 1920, 1946, 1954 (10ft above normal), 1967, https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2014/11/30/the-great-flood-of-1862/
Sheffield flood: 11 March 1864, 5,000 properties affected, 240 killed. Storm + dam fail. http://www.mick-armitage.staff.shef.ac.uk/sheffield/flood.html
Catastrophic floods & high rainfall are nothing new, and there is no evidence that “climate change” had anything to do with any of the above, they are just extreme weather events.
Interesting piece on land drainage – https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2015/12/26/what-the-authorities-wont-tell-you-about-the-floods/
List of natural disasters in Great Britain and Ireland – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_natural_disasters_in_Great_Britain_and_Ireland
Britain’s wildest ever weather in pictures: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/expat/expatpicturegalleries/12071707/In-pictures-Britains-wildest-ever-weather.html?frame=3536826
The 10 worst British winters ever …. (1684 was the clear winner).
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/the-10-worst-british-winters-ever-8945584.html?action=gallery#gallery
Finally: – Here’s an example of the two, most dreadful British Winters of the 20th century.
( & It’s worse than you could ever imagine https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaVrZRJfTBE …You have been warned !!)