Our Whipsaw Weather
Welcome to a world of extremes
Need-to-Know: There is no safe place from the impacts of our ever-increasing carbon pollution.
Today’s extreme weather has no parallel in the past 1,000 years based on detailed analysis of five different data sets, according to a recent study published in Geophysical Research Letters.
America and most of the world are increasingly lurching from record flooding to devastating drought and wildfire—as just happened in Los Angeles. Southern California had record-breaking rains in 2022 and 2023 that spurred shrub and vegetation growth. That was followed by 8 months of severe drought, creating a tinder box stuffed with fuel. Add in high winds, and you have the perfect conditions for firestorms.
Need-to-Know: Our societies were built for a climate that’s long gone.
Costs of extreme weather are soaring because our cities and towns, roads, bridges, sewers, food production, and other vital infrastructure were built around a climate that no longer exists.
The costs are now measured in hundreds of billions of dollars —$320 billion in 2024 according to insurer Munich Re—and soon to be $ trillions every year.
Need-to-Know: A hotter climate = extremely extreme weather.
The more carbon pollution, the hotter the climate gets, which fuels more and more devastating extreme weather. Extreme weather kills and bankrupts people, destroys homes and communities, forces people to migrate, and dumps costs on everyone, directly impacted or not.
Pretty simple to understand.
The pretty obvious solution to keep things from getting worse is to reduce and eventually eliminate carbon pollution.
Until next time, be well.
Stephen
For more details on all this, see:
Yes, Climate Change Causes Wildfires
America's Whipsaw Weather Future
No Safe Place: We're paying a heavy price for our collective carbon pollution
Extreme Rain = Extreme Flooding: Measurements show rainfall is increasingly torrential