The New York Times: Hurricane Harvey Was No Surprise

The slow-moving disaster of Hurricane Harvey for the Houston area shouldn’t have surprised anyone. The US National Weather Service was accurate in forecasting the slow-moving storm with heavy rain, and researchers around the globe have long warned about the risks of climate change, including increased precipitation. But many in the United States, especially those living in fossil-fuel production centers like Houston, reject climate change as a threat. Hurricanes are complex events, not directly linked to climate change, “But it is well established that global warming is already influencing many kinds of extremes, both in the United States and around the world,” explains Stanford professor Noah S. Diffenbaugh. He urges nations to prepare by not treating the climate and odds of extreme events as stationary, adding that “because global warming is increasing those odds, being resilient and prepared means incorporating the changing probabilities into planning, design and operation decisions.” Instead Donald Trump overturned a requirement to consider climate change before investing in infrastructure. Despite dense population centers, too many people fail to prioritize sustainability. Reports of record climate events are no coincidence, more records will be broken and Diffenbaugh concludes that ignoring reality is costly. – YaleGlobal