There’s this saying that essentially says there is no bad weather—only bad choices in clothing. Obviously, people who say that have never lived through extreme weather conditions. I doubt putting an extra jacket on will help with wading through the flood, Tim.

And even though extreme weather is normal in the sense that it happens because that’s just how nature works to bring balance to the cosmos, what is not normal, however, is what humanity is doing to tip the scale of the natural order of things, making extremes a more common occurrence. In other words, look at it as a wake-up call to do something about it before Waterworld happens.

#1 Hailstorm Today In Johannesburg, South Africa. The First Wave Was Golf Balls, And The Second Wave Was Frozen Covid

Image credits: reddit.com

#2 The Power Of A Tornado

Image credits: beanerSchnitzel

#3 Tree Struck By Lightning Burning From Inside Out

Image credits: KatzDeli

No doubt there is ample awareness of the stuff that awaits us should we not consider climate change a real threat. The ever-increasing global temperature is just one of many factors resulting from human life on Earth.

In 140 years, the global temperature has increased by around 3 degrees with nearly each year in the last few decades being record-breaking in terms of oh god, why is it so hot outside?

#4 Crazy Storm Uprooted Our Tree In The Front Yard, Banana For Scale

Image credits: sandman4435

#5 Get Some Winter Sun They Said, Go To Spain They Said

Image credits: realbeats

#6 Severe Storms In My City Now. A Local Guy Just Posted How Happy He Was He Hit Snooze This Morning

Image credits: jennthemermaid

But before (and hopefully, not at all) humanity burns alive if nothing effective is done, we will experience an ever-increasing number and multitude of extreme weather conditions. What’s that? In formal terms, weather is extreme if it’s on the extreme end of what’s been seen in weather patterns historically. This also includes unexpected, unusual, severe and unseasonal behaviors in the climate.

#7 Blizzard Blew Open The Main Door Of My Garage Yesterday

Image credits: PCDevine

#8 Golf-Ball-Sized Hail Today

Image credits: Sr71miller

#9 A Machine Came Through My Local John Deere For Repairs From The Tornado In Kentucky

Image credits: dottiemcfierceon

So, things like heat waves, cold waves, heavy rain and storms, tornadoes, droughts and floods (among many other things) fit the bill of extremes.

And while you might not necessarily be affected by some of these, it doesn’t mean you can’t be affected at all. A tornado, flood or a drought coming through an area where a lot of the world’s food comes from might mean a shortage for countries that rely on it. And you can’t ever know when supply is restored because that 7-minute tornado won’t take 7 minutes to fix. It’s just impossible.

#10 My Nephew Is Part Of The Town Road Crew. Trying To Get To Work To Plow

Image credits: lisapr1113

#11 Hail In Salado

Image credits: pgbrown92

#12 Not The Beautiful Florida View Anyone Imagined! Courtesy Of Hurricane Ian

Image credits: dragracedave

This is besides the economic costs that natural disasters can incur on infrastructure and natural landscapes, prompting first responders and emergency services to arrive at the scene—all of this costs a lot of money. And it gets way worse if there are human casualties. Economically speaking, though, hurricanes Katrina, Sandy, Harvey and Irma together were responsible for $427 billion of damage several years ago.

In other words, it can be a chain reaction that can reach you in the end.

#13 The Tree That’s Changing Colors Along The Split Of Its Storm-Damaged Trunk

Image credits: gkclones

#14 When These Are The Inside Doors, You Know We Are Polar Vortexing

Image credits: HeidiMiler

#15 This Is How Cold It Is. Keep Your Heater On If You Can

Image credits: britainunwrapped

All of this is caused by pollution. Pollutants, like greenhouse gas, being thrown out into the air has an effect on the climate, forcing it to warm up to a degree where it starts affecting everything else on earth. Soon, one animal population starts to dwindle, affecting other animal populations, which can affect plant life and that’s how you get a domino effect. And imagine that you’re at the end of the chain, being squashed by the last oversized domino. Or getting a tornado-propelled corn cob square in the noggin.

#16 A Massive Sandstorm (Elsen Shuurga) In Mongolia. Just Another Day On The Steppes

Image credits: trillnoel

#17 A Tornado In Thomaston, Georgia, Ripped A Home Off Its Foundation And Put It In The Road

Image credits: Meteorologist Molly McCollum

#18 It Has Been Snowing Like Crazy Here In Northern Norway

Image credits: After-Bullfrog5639

Speaking of pollution, it’s not the regular Joes who are the biggest polluters, but entire business industries. But regular Joes can be blamed for supporting the said industries with their money in exchange for convenience and other very addictive commodities.

But to give you a clear idea of who’s the most responsible, in the first place we have the fossil fuels sector with a whopping 40.5 gigatons of CO2 emissions. Next up, it’s the agriculture industry with 9.3 gigatons of CO2 or 11%, followed by all things fashion with 10% of all global emissions. These three industries alone amount to more than half of the total emissions worldwide.

#19 The Heatwave In Britain Made These Cans Explode Inside The Vending Machine

Image credits: GrepekEbi

#20 We Had Some Snow In Buffalo

Image credits: Motor-Marzipan-9926

#21 Before And After Hurricane Ian (Fort Myers Florida)

Image credits: realChrisBrunet

It goes without saying that one man armies can amount to something if they work together. Even if it is in small ways: buy second hand, giving companies no incentive to produce more; buy loose tea because screw microplastics and added manufacturing materials; reduce meat intake to also reduce the industry’s necessity for various resources to produce it. Prompting for anything that is reusable is the first and foremost thing to do.

#22 Quad Bike Hanging From The Power Lines After Record-Breaking Floods In Eastern Australia

Image credits: Mamalamadingdong

#23 We Had Heavy Winds Last Night. We Don’t Own A Trampoline

Image credits: coltd89

#24 The Storm Clouds In Egypt Are So Thick To The Point That Light From The Sun Can’t Penetrate

The only source of light is light pollution reflecting off the clouds making the whole sky seem orange.

Image credits: MTheScorpionKing

But if you’re already using reusable stuff—tea balls, rechargeable batteries, reusable bags, etc.—using less of something is the next step. Wash clothes in colder water, lower your monitor brightness (added bonus of not being blinded on the regular), set up automatic power-downs on your devices, and, one of the more surprising ones—download music instead of streaming it. All of this uses less resources to deliver and hence less electricity consumption. And hey, you save some bucks in the end!

#25 The Weather Near Seattle

Image credits: 13goody13

#26 It’s Raining A Lot In Germany, And Well, That Doesn’t Look Good

Image credits: Enderized

#27 Someone Is Going To Hate Windy Weather But I Saw A Cat

Image credits: Bannedazz

It’s not all bad, though. Humanity has been moving towards eco-friendly alternatives for a while now—just not as fast as we’d hope for—but there is movement. Green architecture is pushing forward to meet new climate and energy generation requirements, recycling is expanding with plastics finding new (re)applications, electric vehicle propulsion is key in managing renewable energy. The list goes on and on. It’s not all sad, folks.

#28 A Church Steeple Blew Off During A Storm Last Night

Image credits: TheSlightestGinge

#29 The Way This Tree Uprooted After A Storm That Came Through My Area In Ohio Yesterday

Image credits: Schwizz5

#30 My Father In Their Home During Ian

Image credits: reddit.com

So, what are your thoughts on any of this? What do you do to make sure the planet doesn’t cleanse itself of us in violent ways? Share your thoughts and hacks in the comment section below.