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Experts Rank the Top Ten Global Weather Events of 2010

Heat waves and floods! A bunch of weather and climate experts have compiled an authoritative list of the "Top Ten global weather events of 2010."

Ben Jervey
By Ben JerveyJan 22, 2011
Ben Jervey
Ben is a writer and editor covering climate change, energy, and environment, and is currently the Climate and Energy Media Fellow at Vermont Law School. He was the original Environment Editor at GOOD Magazine and his work has appeared regularly in National Geographic News, Grist, DeSmogBlog, and OnEarth. He recently worked with the non-profit Focus the Nation to publish an Energy 101 primer. When living in New York City, he wrote a book, The Big Green Apple, on how to live a lower impact life in the city. A bicycle enthusiast, Ben has ridden across the United States and through much of Europe.
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Just before the New Year, we ran a "Year in Review" slideshow of the extreme weather events of 2010. The Christian Science Monitor one-upped us by actually polling a bunch of weather and climate experts to get a very authoritative list of the "Top Ten global weather events of 2010." The criteria:

Voters considered the scope and unusualness of the event, its immediate human and economic impact, and whether it is emblematic of climate trends or variability.

There's plenty of overlap between the lists, but, as the Monitor's version is ranked, and ours was merely chronological, it's well worth checking out what the experts felt were the most important events. For good reason the Russian heat wave, the floods in Pakistan, and 2010 tying for the hottest year on record all ranked high on their list. Check out the whole thing.

Photo of the Nashville floods (cc) by Flickr user keith justin gallagher

environmentweatherclimate2010extreme weatherweather and climatechristian science monitor

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