Posted on: September 04, 2019
The news the past week has been saturated with weather: namely, with predictions about the path of and descriptions of the damage caused by Hurricane Dorian. The volatility of our climate is undeniably front and center in our day-to-day lives. For this Web Wednesday, we're rounding up articles covering the factors that shape climate trends and inform the policy debate.
The map above shows that significant portions of the USA are experiencing, as compared to the last 120+ years, their highest average temperatures. The Washington Post recently provided an interactive with a great deal more maps and analyses (external link) of temperature changes.
With the generally higher temperatures comes more volatile weather, including wind and water (external link). Also, the damage related to water is not limited to flooding (external link)… there is stress on the water supply (external link) that can compromise economic (external link), fiscal (external link) and physical (external link) health for generations.
Impacts are far from equal — urban areas (external link) tend to experience more intense temperatures, and people of color experience more severe (external link) effects.
So where do we go from here, to address (external link)or handle these weather events more effectively? Opinions vary (external link), but some unexpected voices (external link) are weighing in, and shared experience (external link)may be a great motivator for cooperation.
