Climate change challengesDrought and Record Heat in the West: The Climate Change Connection
As intense drought and record heat make their way across the Western U.S., the deep and devastating impacts of this extreme weather are clear — electric utilities are asking consumers to ration power and water, farmers are scrambling to sell or save their produce, and officials are making plans to keep their communities safe and cool. All before true summer weather arrives. Research shows that these extreme events are expected to continue as our climate changes.
As intense drought and record heat make their way across the Western U.S., the deep and devastating impacts of this extreme weather are clear — electric utilities are asking consumers to ration power and water, farmers are scrambling to sell or save their produce, and officials are making plans to keep their communities safe and cool. All before true summer weather arrives.
Research shows that these extreme events are expected to continue as our climate changes. The intensity of hurricanes, for example, is increased by rising global temperatures and their ripple effects in the atmosphere, water cycle, and oceans. A warmer and moister atmosphere over the oceans increases the chances that hurricanes will be larger and produce more rainfall, and sea level rise from melting polar ice pushes these storms toward coastlines.
This week’s extreme events in the American West also illustrate the compounding effects of climate change: boosted evaporation from rising temperatures worsens drought, and drier landscapes are more vulnerable to wildfire.
These intense heat waves are straining electrical grids, with Texans being urged to conserve their energy use in order to prevent blackouts. A National Academies report released last month emphasized the need to better understand what the future needs of our electrical grids might be, pointing to resiliency as a key trait that future grids should prioritize.
Officials are also confronting the challenge of managing these crisis in the middle of a pandemic. Two recent rapid expert consultations from the National Academies’ Societal Experts Action Network explore how to support people experiencing homelessness in the aftermath of a disaster, and how to evacuate people safely out of a disaster zone during COVID-19. The consultations urge officials to consider using nontraditional shelter spaces such as campgrounds or college dormitories to reduce overcrowding, clearly communicating the immediate risk of a disaster compared with risk of infection with the virus, and ensuring their disaster plans are updated to take COVID-19 safety protocols into account.
At a 2020 Academies webinar on extreme events and the COVID-19 pandemic, Cate Mingoya, director of capacity building at Groundwork USA, explained how neighborhoods of color are most likely to be exposed not only to the effects of climate change, such as heat and flooding, but also to COVID-19 and the widespread economic instability that has followed in its wake. In summer months, some neighborhoods experience as much as a 16 degree difference in temperature when compared with other communities close by. “That’s the difference between a $100 utility bill and a $200 utility bill. That’s the difference between having a diabetic episode or a cardiac event and not having one.”
Understanding the full scope of threats posed by these extreme weather events — whether to our health, energy supply, or natural ecosystems — requires scientists to reach across fields and bridge disciplinary gaps. A 2020 workshop, for example, brought together health and atmospheric chemistry experts to discuss the effects of wildfire smoke, exchanging information about forecasting tools and how to best assist public health authorities during a wildfire.
Another recent Academies report also urged scientific leaders at the U.S. Global Change Research Program to prioritize research that can inform how our communities respond to these urgent climate threats — information that could help mayors and governors in Western states to manage the next drought or heat wave.
Megan Lowry is a National Academy of Sciences media officer for behavioral and social sciences; education; and earth and life studies, including environment and biotechnology.
