Final answer:
Extreme weather events are changing due to anthropogenic factors, such as increased greenhouse gas emissions from human activities, leading to more severe weather, wildfires, and natural disasters. The rise in global temperatures and shifting climate patterns are causing significant damages to the environment and societies.
Step-by-step explanation:
There is increasing concern among climate scientists that extreme events may be changing in frequency and intensity as a result of anthropogenic influences on climate. Human activities, such as the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation, are contributing to the rise in greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane. This has led to an increase in global temperatures and a shift in climate patterns, causing more severe weather and natural disasters.
These climate changes have resulted in hazards such as abnormally heavy rainfall, prolonged droughts, desertification, environmental degradation, and sea-level rise. The evidence is stark, with record-setting wildfires and catastrophic bushfires, more frequent and intense droughts and storms, rising sea levels, and warming ocean temperatures. These effects can cause immeasurable damage to ecosystems, crops, property, and lives, making it clear that policy makers need to take urgent action to mitigate these impacts.