The US faces more frequent extreme weather events, but attitudes and actions aren't keeping up
Share this @internewscast.com

WASHINGTON (AP) — In 1987, central Texas experienced lethal flooding, leading some to believe they had mastered the worst of nature’s fury. However, the recent catastrophic flash floods, where an extraordinary amount of rain fell within hours claiming over 100 lives, challenged that belief.

Prior to 2021, a scorching heat wave seemed improbable for the usually mild Pacific Northwest and western Canada, yet it struck. Tropical Hawaii felt protected from wildfires caused by drought until it wasn’t. Similarly, many residents of inland North Carolina considered hurricanes to be a coastal concern until the remnants of Helene impacted them last year.

According to climate experts and official data, climate change is causing extreme weather events to become more frequent and severe. However, both people and governments tend to rely on outdated perceptions, failing to acknowledge the current reality of frequent extreme weather, not to mention the harsher conditions that lie ahead, experts in meteorology, disaster management, and public health told The Associated Press.

“What happens with climate change is that what used to be extreme becomes average, typical, and what used to never occur in a human lifetime or maybe even in a thousand years becomes the new extreme,” Princeton University climate scientist Michael Oppenheimer said. “We start to experience things that just basically never happened before.”

The 10-year summer average of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s climate extreme index, which tracks hurricanes, heavy rain, droughts and high and low temperatures, is 58% higher than it was in the 1980s.

Despite the grim trajectory, society isn’t acting with enough alarm, Oppenheimer said.

“There’s plenty of evidence that we sit there and do absolutely nothing while these risks are coming right at us like a moving railroad train and we’re standing in the tracks. And then all of a sudden, bam,” he said.

Shifting public perspective

Although the changing climate is the biggest problem, the way we react to or ignore the changes could make a bad situation worse, experts said.

Marshall Shepherd, a University of Georgia meteorology professor who previously served as president of the American Meteorological Society, said people tend to base decisions on how they fared during past extreme weather events, including storms that didn’t end up directly affecting them. This leaves them overly optimistic that they’ll also fare well today, even though storms have grown more fierce.

He points to the Texas flooding.

“That is flash flood alley. We know that floods happen in that region all the time. … I’ve already seen normalcy bias statements by people in the regions saying, well, we get flooding all the time,” Shepherd said, pointing out that the amount of rain that fell in only a few hours last week was anything but normal.

People need to shift how they think about disasters, even if they don’t live in the most disaster-prone locations, said Kim Klockow McClain, an extreme weather social scientist at the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research who studies communicating disaster warnings and risk.

“The message needs to be, if you’re used to some degree of nuisance flooding, every so often, look at what happened in Texas and realize that this is a shifting baseline,” she said.

Ignoring the problem won’t make it disappear

Time and again after catastrophic storms and wildfires, people whose lives were upended say they didn’t think it could happen to them. This mindset helps people cope, but with extreme weather happening more frequently and in more places, it can prevent them from adequately preparing.

“It’s sort of a psychological mechanism to protect us that it can’t happen to me,” said Susan Cutter, co-director of the Hazards Vulnerability & Resilience Institute at the University of South Carolina.

Surviving past extreme events can leave people believing that it won’t happen again or, if it does, that they’ll be fine, said Lori Peek, director of the Natural Hazards Center at the University of Colorado. She said this overconfidence can be dangerous: “Just because I’ve lived through a fire or a flood or a hurricane or a tornado, that does not mean that the next time is going to look like the last time.”

What’s being done

As the weather has grown more extreme, our ability to prepare for and react to it hasn’t kept pace, the scientists said.

“Infrastructure is aging in our country and is more vulnerable given the fact that there are just simply, as a matter of fact, more people living in harm’s way,” Peek said. “As our population has continued to rise, it’s not only that we have more people in the country, it’s also that we have more people living in particularly hazardous areas like our coastal areas.”

The Trump Administration’s mass layoffs and planned cuts to agencies that study climate and help warn of and deal with disasters — the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the National Weather Service and research labs at the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration and the U.S. Geological Survey — could further worsen the situation, several experts said.

Smart and experienced people have already left these agencies and it could take years to make up for their knowledge and abilities, they said.

“We’re destroying the capability we have that we’re going to need more and more in the future,” Oppenheimer said.

As for future disasters, the country needs to figure out and plan for the worst-case scenario instead of looking to the past, Peek said.

“This is our future,” Peek said. “It’s obvious that we’re living into a future where there are going to be more fires and floods and heat waves.”

___

The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

Share this @internewscast.com
You May Also Like
US sanctions Cuban President Díaz-Canel and other officials for human rights violations

U.S. Imposes Sanctions on Cuban President Díaz-Canel and Officials Over Human Rights Abuses

On Friday, the United States government declared that it was placing sanctions…
A six-year-old girl and a 45-year-old man.

Groom, 45, Marries 6-Year-Old in Disturbing Wedding That Shocks Even the Taliban, Highlighting the Tragic Reality of Child Brides

A 45-year-old groom allegedly married a six-year-old girl in Afghanistan in a…
DOGE sprouts in red states, as governors embrace the cost-cutter brand and make it their own

Red States Adopt DOGE as Cost-Saving Measure, Endorsed by Governors

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — During the tumultuous early days of President Donald…
Surprise witness in Idaho student murders says she 'saw Bryan there' on deadly night

Bryan Kohberger Thought He Pulled Off ‘The Perfect Murders’—But One Crucial Error Exposed Him, Says Author

Bryan Kohberger, described as a painfully awkward and arrogant introvert and a…
Motorcycle crash on Route 45, north of Dada Drive, leaves 1 dead in unincorporated Gurnee, Illinois: Lake County Sheriff's Office

Fatal Motorcycle Accident on Route 45 Near Dada Drive in Unincorporated Gurnee, Illinois: Lake County Sheriff’s Office Reports

UNINCORPORATED GURNEE, Ill. (WLS) — A motorcyclist was killed in a north…
‘Ruthless’ Actor Derek Dixon Speaks Out on Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Against Tyler Perry: “I Couldn’t Stay Silent Anymore”

Actor Derek Dixon Breaks Silence on Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Against Tyler Perry: “I Had to Speak Up”

Derek Dixon, most recognized for portraying Dale in Tyler Perry’s shows Ruthless…
Texas family mourns 'shining light' 8-year-old daughter confirmed dead in Camp Mystic flood disaster

Texas Family Grieves Loss of Beloved 8-Year-Old Daughter in Camp Mystic Flood Tragedy

The family of 8-year-old Kellyanne Elizabeth Lytal confirmed to Fox News Digital…
Low-quality security camera footage of a mugging.

Elderly British Tourist Mugged and Pushed to the Ground During Majorca Vacation

THIS is the shocking moment an elderly Brit is mugged and violently…
Justice Dept. fires more lawyers, support staff involved in Trump prosecutions

Justice Department Dismisses Additional Lawyers and Support Staff Involved in Trump Cases

The firings are part of a broader wave of terminations that have…
Plane crash-lands near St. Augustine airport

Aircraft Makes Emergency Landing Near St. Augustine Airport

St. Johns County Fire Rescue noted in a Facebook post that the…
Aerial view of a large inflatable dome covering a construction site in a city.

China Introduces World’s Largest $50 Million Inflatable Dome for Construction Site with a Unique Purpose

CHINA has unveiled a massive inflatable dome in the middle of a…
Carabinieri at a car accident scene.

Heartbreaking Image Surfaces After Airline CEO’s Wife Allegedly Hits Babysitter, 24; Lawyer Denies Her Fleeing the Scene

Heartbreaking images have surfaced from the devastating crash involving a CEO’s wife,…