Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming - Global Warming Effects on Extreme Weather - In the aftermath of severe storms across America and throughout the world, and with Bertha strengthening to the first hurricane of the season, extreme weather is on the minds of people around the globe. And while storms, floods and droughts have always occurred, science points to our changing climate as having a real effect on the severity and frequency of extreme weather events. Extreme precipitation events have increased over North America over the past 50 years. For the past decade, the West and Southwest regions have experienced drought conditions which are impacting agriculture, and contributing to the wildfire epidemic in the Western United States. On Thursday, Chairman Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming will hold a hearing examining the links between global warming, extreme weather events, and how these events affect the world now and will in the future. WITNESS LIST: Jimmy O. Adegoke, Ph.D, Associate Professor, University of Missouri - Kansas City; Heather Cooley, Senior Research Associate, Pacific Institute; Dr. Jay S. Golden, Director, National Center of Excellence, SMART Innovations for Urban Climate and Energy, Global Institute of Sustainability, Arizona State University; Angela Licata, Deputy Commissioner, New York City Bureau of Environmental Planning and Analysis; Dan Keppen, Executive Director, Family Farm Alliance.  Video provided by the U.S. House of Representatives.