Storm Intensity Increase
More heat and water in the atmosphere and warmer sea surface temperatures are increasing storm precipitation and could provide more fuel to increase storm wind speeds. Storm intensity is measured by the maximum surface wind speed or the minimum sea level pressure. Climate change affects many of the factors that can result in greater storm intensity. It leads to additional latent heat available in warmer air, and an increase in the meridional (or poleward) temperature gradient, which increases available potential energy.
Read MoreMay 15, 2019
Mississippi River Valley Floods 2019
Mar 20, 2019
Great Plains Floods March 2019
Apr 1, 2020 | Washington Post
Abnormally warm Gulf of Mexico could intensify the upcoming tornado and hurricane seasons
Mar 13, 2020 | Washington Post
Fierce ‘dragon’ storm hits Egypt with flooding rain and damaging winds. Israel braces for impact.
Jan 21, 2020 | Washington Post
‘Bomb’ blizzard buried cars and homes with more than 12 feet of snow in parts of Newfoundland
Feb 12, 2020 | Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society
Surface Pressure a More Skillful Predictor of Normalized Hurricane Damage than Maximum Sustained Wind
Dec 10, 2019 | Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society
EEE 2018: Extreme Hail Storms and Climate Change: Foretelling the Future In Tiny, Turbulent Crystal Balls?
Nov 12, 2019 | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Normalized US hurricane damage estimates using area of total destruction, 1900−2018
Earth Systems Signals
Global warming is causing widespread and rapid changes in the atmosphere, ocean, cryosphere and biosphere.
Heat Signals
The Earth is getting hotter due to human activities that release heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere.
Drought Signals
Climate change is making droughts more likely to occur, and more severe when they do.
Wildfires Signals
Climate change is increasing the size, frequency, intensity and seasonality of wildfires.
Hurricanes Signals
Warmer temperatures increase the rate of water evaporation, which feeds moisture and energy into storms.
Floods Signals
Worsening floods due to climate change are putting a growing number of communities at risk.