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How Climate Change Is Fueling Extreme Weather

Carbon pollution is contributing to climate disasters that will only get worse unless we take action.

Gray smoky New York skyline with a large orange sun rising behind it.
The sun rises over a hazy New York City skyline as seen from Jersey City, N.J., June 7, 2023. Intense Canadian wildfires are blanketing the northeastern U.S. in a dystopian haze, turning the air acrid, the sky yellowish gray and prompting warnings for vulnerable populations to stay inside.
Seth Wenig / AP

Across the globe, extreme weather is becoming the new normal.

From season to season and year to year, weather events that were once rare occurrences are now increasingly commonplace.

Why is this happening?

Human activity is causing rapid changes to our global climate that are contributing to extreme weather conditions.

When fossil fuels are burned for electricity, heat, and transportation, carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that traps solar radiation, is released into our atmosphere.

Over the past century, massive increases in carbon dioxide, methane, and other greenhouse gas emissions have caused the temperature on our planet to rise. That spike in global temperatures is fueling climate disasters that will only get worse unless we take action. Experts warn that we are running out of time to dramatically cut pollution to avoid climate catastrophe.

Read on to learn more, find out what Earthjustice is doing to help the planet change course, and how you can help.

1. Wildfires burn longer and wider

Larger fires in hot, dry years

Flames from a backfire consume a hillside as firefighters battle the Maria Fire in Santa Paula, Calif., on Nov. 1, 2019.
Flames consume a hillside as firefighters battle the Maria Fire in Santa Paula, Calif., on Nov. 1, 2019. (Noah Berger / AP Photo)

Wildfires have always been a natural part of life in the western United States and Canada. However, as this region grows hotter and drier, wildfires are growing in size, ferocity, and speed.

The hazardous air pollution that wildfire smoke creates can spread far beyond the region burned. In summer 2023, smoke wafting down from nearly 900 wildfires tearing through Canada triggered air quality alerts that affected as many as 70 million people across the eastern United States.

And then there’s the destruction on the ground.

In recent years, California has been particulary prone to devastating blazes. With record dry, hot conditions across the state, seasonal high winds (known as Diablo in Northern California and Santa Ana in the southern part of the state) caused wildfires to grow and spread at an unprecedented rate.

California wildfires burned more than 4 million acres in 2020 — an area larger than Connecticut — making 2020 the biggest fire season in state history. The Camp Fire in 2018 — California’s single most destructive, and deadliest, wildfire in history — destroyed an average of one football field worth of land every three seconds and killed 68 people, according to CAL FIRE.

And it’s not just California. Oregon, Washington, and Colorado have also seen explosive fires that have forced thousands to evacuate, claimed lives, and destroyed homes and businesses.

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2. Extreme heat gets hotter

Heat waves pose health risks and strain our energy system

A man wipes his brow as he walks under misters on July 13, 2023 in downtown Phoenix.
A man wipes his brow as he walks under misters on July 13, 2023 in downtown Phoenix. Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico and Southern California are getting hit with 100-degree-plus temps and excessive heat warnings. (Matt York / AP)

As global temperatures rise, the hottest temperatures — and the number of areas impacted by extreme heat — are also rising. That means more scorching hot days in more places.

In California’s Death Valley this July, thermometers neared the hottest temperature ever recorded, hovering around 130 degrees. That same month, the average global temperature hit an all-time high.

It’s not just that individual hot days are breaking records — there’s an overall warming trend. Take the Texas cities of Austin and Houston, for example. Over the past 50 years, Austin has seen the number of days with temperatures above 100°F increase by one month, while Houston has recorded an additional month with temperatures above 95°F. In California, temperatures are estimated to have increased 3°F in the past century.

Through 2100, scientists predict hotter temperatures and more frequent and intense heat waves in every region of the U.S., according to the Union of Concerned Scientists. And the trend transcends borders.

Extreme heat increases demand for air conditioning, fueling carbon pollution and putting a strain our energy system that can lead to blackouts. It also poses a serious health threat, especially for the most vulnerable.

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3. Hurricanes are becoming more intense

Storm systems draw their energy from warm ocean water

A mother and her 3-week-old baby are ferried from their home amidst the floodwaters of Hurricane Harvey in 2017.
A mother and her 3-week-old baby are ferried from their home amidst the floodwaters of Hurricane Harvey. (Joe Raedle / Getty Images)

Hurricanes are growing more powerful as global temperatures rise because these storm systems draw their energy from warm ocean water.

In September 2022, major hurricanes struck Florida and Puerto Rico.

Hurricane Fiona dumped unprecedented levels of rain and caused catastrophic damage, leaving Puerto Rico residents without electricity or drinking water.

Days later, Hurricane Ian rapidly intensified as it headed towards the Florida coast, giving residents little time to prepare. Scientists warn that this will become more common as our climate warms: storms will not only become stronger, but they will intensify faster.

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4. Drought conditions persist

Moisture evaporates from waterbodies and soil

A dried out lake stands near the Navajo Nation town of Thoreau on Jun. 6, 2019, in Thoreau, N.M.
A dried out lake stands near the Navajo Nation town of Thoreau on Jun. 6, 2019, in Thoreau, N.M. (Spencer Platt / Getty Images)

Higher temperatures also lead to drier conditions. When global temperatures rise, moisture evaporates from waterbodies and soil.

Droughts in the U.S. and elsewhere in the world have become more severe and long-lasting thanks to climate change.

In fact, the American West is currently in the midst of a mega drought that ranks among the worst in the past 1,200 years, even after heavy rainfall in 2023. Much of the region is currently facing "extreme" or "exceptional" drought conditions.

5. Warmer temperatures drive increases in precipitation

Areas that have historically trended toward heavy precipitation will get wetter

Two people stand in knee deep water in flooded town
Montpelier resident Ben Cheney and a companion survey rising floodwaters at the intersection of State and Main streets in downtown Montpelier, Vermont, on July 10, 2023. (Jeb Wallace-Brodeur / The Times Argus via AP)

Warmer air increases evaporation, which means that our atmosphere contains an increasing amount of water vapor for storms to sweep up and turn into rain or snow.

Just as drier areas are likely to get drier with rising global temperatures, those areas of the world that have historically trended toward heavy precipitation will only get wetter.

Heavy rainfall and flash flooding in the Northeast during July 2023 caused tens of millions of dollars, inundated Vermont's state capital with knee-high waters, and killed at least one person. New rain estimates issued in 2023 indicate that 12.6 million properties across the U.S. that were not previously thought to be at flood risk now are due to the increased likelihood of extreme precipitation events.

6. Sea level rise causes flooding

Oceans are warming; land ice is melting

Houston residents escape flooded homes and businesses, in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey in 2017.
Houston residents escape flooded homes and businesses, in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey in 2017. (Joe Raedle / Getty Images)

As the planet warms, ocean waters are also warming — and expanding. At the same time, warmer temperatures are causing land ice — think glaciers and ice caps — to melt, which is adding water to the world’s oceans.

As a result, average global sea level has increased eight inches in the last 150 years.

The Atlantic coast of the United States and the Gulf of Mexico are experiencing some of the highest sea level rise in the world, which, combined with record rainfall, has led to catastrophic flooding.

7. Winter storms hit harder

Trapped water vapor leads to heavier snowfall

A woman tries to protect her face from blowing snow while walking in white-out conditions in Jersey City, N.J., Monday, Feb. 1, 2021. The winter storm dropped more than two feet of snow on the area and may have broken a 122-year-old snowfall record for the state.
A woman protects her face while walking in white-out conditions in Jersey City, N.J., Feb. 1, 2021. The winter storm dropped more than two feet of snow on the area and may have broken a 122-year-old snowfall record for the state. (Seth Wenig / AP)

Even as climate change raises average global temperatures, that doesn’t spell the end of winters. Overall, winters are getting milder and shorter; but recent winters have brought intense snowstorms and record-breaking frost.

As a result, average global sea level has increased eight inches in the last 150 years.

While it may seem contradictory, climate change may be contributing to more extreme winter weather. As the warming atmosphere traps water vapor later and later into the year, that precipitation leads to heavier snowfall when the temperatures do drop.

Another factor is the rapidly warming Arctic, which some scientists believe is weakening the jet stream and causing disruptions of the polar vortex. The polar vortex refers to bands of wind and low air pressure near the North Pole, which normally lock cold air over Arctic. When those bands break down, icy air can escape south in the form of freezing winters.

In 2021, record-breaking snowstorms knocked out power for nearly 4.5 million homes in Texas as icy conditions and heating demands overwhelmed much of the region’s power supply. More than a hundred people died, and the storms caused an estimated $295 billion in damage.

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What can we do?

There is a solution: Break free from fossil fuels

Peter Koleckar reacts after seeing multiple homes burned in his neighborhood after the CZU Lightning Complex Fire passed through on Aug. 20, 2020, in Bonny Doon, Calif.
Peter Koleckar reacts after seeing multiple homes burned in his neighborhood after the CZU Lightning Complex Fire passed through on Aug. 20, 2020, in Bonny Doon, Calif. (Marcio Jose Sanchez / AP Photo)

Americans across the political spectrum are feeling the urgency of our climate deadline and calling for action on a scale that matches the threat. We need bold and equitable climate solutions to move towards a pollution-free, 100% clean energy future.

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