Tag: Weather

2025 was hotter than it should have been – 5 influences and a dirty surprise offer clues to what’s ahead

Intersections

Michael Wysession, Washington University in St. Louis (from The Conversation) The past three years have been the world’s hottest on record by far, with 2025 almost tied with 2023 for second place. With that energy came extreme weather, from flash flooding to powerful hurricanes and severe droughts. Yet, by most indicators, the planet should have been cooler in 2025 than it was. So, what happened,…

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Extreme and unusual weather: United States Midwest — impacts, consequences

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Immediate impacts: Immediate and longer-term consequences for people, agriculture, wildlife, etc.: Extreme weather and climate change: the connections and impacts Where are all the birds? What is a flash drought? An earth scientist explains Climate change and agriculture: damage to crops Increasing frequency of drought and decreasing yields for soybeans Higher temperatures will lead to additional crop damage from insects Climate change is intensifying the water…

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Do you care? We need education, resolve, and action

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WMO report documents spiralling weather and climate impacts (March 2025). Land and water degradation, food and water supply shortages, drug-resistant infections from overuse of antibiotics, overuse of pesticides and disease, sea level rise affecting coastal areas, microplastics/single-use plastic pollution on land and in the oceans, rapidly melting ice at the Poles, heatwaves, droughts, extreme rainfall, powerful hurricanes, and more … leading to people and animals…

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Why some storms brew up to extreme dimensions in the middle of America – and why it’s happening more often

Understanding Science

Shuang-Ye Wu, University of Dayton (from The Conversation) A powerful storm system that stalled over states from Texas to Ohio for several days in early April 2025 wreaked havoc across the region, with deadly tornadoes, mudslides and flooding as rivers rose. More than a foot of rain fell in several areas. As a climate scientist who studies the water cycle, I often get questions about…

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Extinction and climate change

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Earth’s climate is changing rapidly. No, it is not a hoax, not a projection for the future, not a scare tactic from whatever political or advocacy group that you or your favorite politician may not like. In our lifetimes, it has changed–generally growing warmer and often dryer, with daily weather more prone to extremes–winds, rain, snow, cold, heat, more destructive storms leading to more extensive…

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What is an atmospheric river?

What is an atmospheric river? A hydrologist explains the good and bad of these flood-prone storms and how they’re changing

Intersections

Qian Cao, University of California, San Diego (from The Conversation) A series of atmospheric rivers is bringing the threat of heavy downpours, flooding, mudslides and avalanches to the Pacific Northwest and California this week [early 2024]. While these storms are dreaded for the damage they can cause, they are also essential to the region’s water supply, particularly in California, as Qian Cao, a hydrologist at…

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Extreme winter weather and a changing climate

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The United States was virtually snow-free during the Christmas season 2023 matching a year which was one of the hottest globally since weather records have been kept. Yet, by early to mid January 2024, large sections of the United States were facing snow storms, blizzards, and extreme cold temperatures. How does that sudden change of weather–from warmer than usual to extreme cold and snow–fit the…

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Physical risk from climate in the USA

Looking for a US ‘climate haven’ away from heat and disaster risks? Good luck finding one

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Julie Arbit, University of Michigan; Brad Bottoms, University of Michigan, and Earl Lewis, University of Michigan (from The Conversation) Southeast Michigan seemed like the perfect “climate haven.” “My family has owned my home since the ‘60s. … Even when my dad was a kid and lived there, no floods, no floods, no floods, no floods. Until [2021],” one southeast Michigan resident told us. That June,…

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Climate change is intensifying the water cycle, bringing more powerful storms and flooding – here’s what the science shows

Intersections

Mathew Barlow, UMass Lowell (from The Conservation) Powerful storm systems triggered flash flooding across the U.S. in late July 2022, killing at least 25 people in eastern Kentucky as floodwater engulfed homes and set off mudslides. Record rainfall also inundated St. Louis neighborhoods, and another deluge in Nevada flooded the Las Vegas strip. The impact of climate change on extreme water-related events like this is…

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Excessive rainfall: a product of a changing climate

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Pockets of intense rainfall occurring over a short period of time amid a larger movement toward drought is a signature of a changing climate. For more information, see — Excessive rainfall–the new normal Connections with a changing climate: drought, intense rainfall, and flooding Extreme rainfall will continue Large, intense thunderstorms will happen more frequently Extreme weather and climate change: the connections and impacts (from Science…

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