Soon it would be too hot. Looking out from the hotel balcony shortly after eight o’clock, Kerans watched the sun rise behind the dense groves of giant gymnosperms crowding over the roofs of the abandoned department stores four hundred yards away on the east side of the lagoon.
—J. G. Ballard, The Drowned World (1962)
Methane and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of the post-Zero Hour Earth push temperatures to the extremes over time, but not all places are guaranteed to grow warmer. The potential exists for European climate to cool for some years, though in the DAYLIGHT scenario it is supposed that this cooling will reverse in time as the rest of the Earth warms up.
The following links focus largely on cyclonic storm formation, but drought, heat waves, and wildfires are likely to worsen when the rain isn't flooding the landscape. The basic alternatives are between too wet and windy vs. too hot, dry, and fiery.
If the Sun went back to normal after two decades, how quickly would the climate stabilize again? Researchers investigating the global warming that took place during the Eocene period have estimated that the recovery to a state more like the present took 30,000 to 150,000 years (see "Azolla Event," below). This is considered "rapid" by any reasonable geological standards, though not by human ones. With the loss of higher technology, there will be no quick fix to help humanity.
Effects of Global Warming: (Wikipedia) Long, detailed discussion reveals many possible consequences worth exploring in depth. See in particular sections on positive feedback loops, and effects on ecosystems, health, and security. Note first-ever South Atlantic hurricane Catarina (2004).
Global Warming and Extreme Weather: (Environmental Defense Fund) Hurricanes are not the worst of the problems.
Shutdown of Thermohaline Circulation: (Wikipedia) How Europe might turn rather cold for a while despite global warming (the "Atlantic conveyor" breakdown).
Global Warming and Hurricanes: (Princeton) Stronger winds and more rain predicted, though further research is necessary.
Hurricanes: (National Geographic) Warmer waters make hurricanes more dangerous. (Similar article in Time Magazine.) There might be fewer hurricanes, however.
Hurricane Scale: (Wikipedia) How North Atlantic hurricane strength is determined, based on damage caused. See discussion of Category 6 storms at bottom of page. (Pacific and Indian Ocean scales are described here and here.)
Category 5 Pacific Hurricanes: (Wikipedia) Super Typhoons are called that for a reason (150 mph+).
Super hurricanes: (Lakeland Ledger) Practical problems in deciding how big a hurricane can get.
On the Trail of the Super-Hurricane: (New York Academy of Sciences) The 1935 Labor Day super-hurricane, and what was learned from it.
Camille, Hugo, Andrew, Mitch, and Katrina: It doesn't take a Category 5 to destroy a city, but Category 5s do it easily. (Here are the worst of the worst in fatalities).
Super Typhoon Ioke: (Wikipedia) Wake Island disappeared beneath Ioke's storm surge for a time.
Hurricane Fifi: (Wikipedia) Cyclonic storms can cross from the Atlantic to the Pacific (over Central America) and keep going.
Typhoon Tip: (Wikipedia) The biggest monster hurricane ever, and the most dangerous (195 mph+ winds). A harbinger of the future?
Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum: (Wikipedia) Note estimates for climate recovery time.
Azolla Event: (Wikipedia) How ocean life transformed a hothouse Earth to our colder, present-day Earth, 49 million years ago. It didn't happen overnight.
Hypercane: (Wikipedia): Just in case you were thinking about it in a long-term scenario. If the ocean got warm enough, anything's possible.
Last updated 06/04/2010
