• Moving Communities Away from Flooding Risks with Minimal Harm

    By Rob Jordan

    As sea levels rise and flooding becomes more frequent, many countries are considering a controversial strategy: relocation of communities. A Stanford analysis of planned relocations around the world reveals a blueprint for positive outcomes.

  • First Three Weeks of July 2023 Warmest on Record, Breaking Global Temperature Records

    Following the hottest June on record and a series of extreme weather events, including heatwaves in Europe, North America and Asia, and wildfires in Canada and Greece, show that the first three weeks of July have already broken several significant records. The first three weeks of the month was the warmest three-week period on record.

  • Paying the Costs of Climate Resilience

    By Steve Cohen

    The idea that climate pollution can be eliminated by political edict overestimates political power and underestimates economic power. It is not simply powerful economic interests that influence public policy, but the sense of economic well-being perceived and experienced by the mass public. The maintenance of that sense of well-being is a critical foundation of political stability. The transition to a renewable resource-based economy must be careful to reinforce and not undermine that sense of well-being.

  • One- to Four-Family Properties with Multiple Losses Insured by the National Flood Insurance Program

    What are the characteristics of properties that have experienced multiple flood losses (e.g., percentage of overall claims payments, number of losses, and structure characteristics)? What are the socioeconomic characteristics of multiple loss property (MLP) households and the communities in which they are located? What percentage of MLPs have been mitigated, what are the socioeconomics characteristics of neighborhoods where MLPs have been mitigated, and how effective has mitigation been in reducing risk?

  • The Ground Is Deforming, and Buildings Aren’t Ready

    By Amanda Morris

    There is a “silent hazard” lurking underneath our major global cities, and our buildings were not designed to handle it. With Chicago as a living lab space, Northwestern study links underground climate change to variations beneath urban areas.

  • Florida’s Home Insurance Crisis Isn’t Going Away

    By Jake Bittle

    It’s hard to make money selling home insurance in Florida. For one thing, the state is very vulnerable to hurricanes, and those hurricanes are getting stronger thanks to climate change. A legal loophole has made the state a hotbed for fraudulent litigation over insurance claims, and companies lose even more money fighting those lawsuits. And reinsurers are charging insurance companies much higher fees owing to climate change-driven disaster losses.

  • Earth Just Had Its Hottest June on Record

    The world just sweltered through its hottest June in the 174-year global climate record. Additionally, Earth’s ocean surface temperature anomaly — which indicates how much warmer or cooler temperatures are from the long-term average — were the highest ever recorded.

  • Adapting to Wildfires in a Warming World

    By Alice C. Hill

    Recent wildfires in Canada and California offer a preview of a world made far more dangerous by climate change, one in which smoke and fire exact an ever-increasing toll on public health and the economy.

  • Climate Change Is Increasing Stress on Thousands of Aging Dams Across the U.S.

    By Hiba Baroud

    There are more than 91,000 dams across the U.S., in all 50 states, with diverse designs and purposes. The average dam age is 60 years, and more than 8,000 dams are over 90 years old. The American Society of Civil Engineers’ report card for the nation’s infrastructure gave U.S. dams a “D” grade.

  • As Unprecedented Rainfalls Occur More Frequently, What Can Be Done About the Resulting Flash Floods?

    By Stuart Braun, Martin Kuebler, and Tim Schauenberg

    Record rainfall is wreaking havoc in northern India and New York state as flash floods inundate communities. Experts have called for better resilience through ‘weatherproofing.’

  • Extreme Heat Will Cost the U.S. $1 Billion in Health Care Costs — This Summer Alone

    By Zoya Teirstein

    Extreme heat — summertime temperatures and humidity that exceed the historical average — is being made more frequent and intense by climate change. High temperatures could lead to 235,000 ER visits and 56,000 hospital admissions for heat-related conditions annually.

  • Climate Change Has Sent Temperatures Soaring in Texas

    By Erin Douglas, Yuriko Schumacher, and Alex Ford

    Hotter days and nights. More record highs. Climate change has shifted the entire range of Texas heat upwards. Heat is one of the deadliest consequences of climate change. It’s already the most dangerous type of weather, typically killing more people annually than hurricanes, tornadoes or flooding.

  • As California Attempts a “Managed Retreat,” Coastal Homeowners Sue to Stay

    By Jake Bittle

    “Managed retreat” is a climate adaptation policy that calls for relocating and removing coastal structures rather than protecting them where they are. Experts say managed retreat is an important last-resort option for adapting to climate change, but California’s early attempts to implement the policy have provoked a backlash from homeowners and politicians.

  • Texas Farmers Are Worried One of the State’s Most Precious Water Resources Is Running Dry. You Should Be, Too.

    By Jayme Lozano Carver

    The Ogallala Aquifer serves farming communities in multiple states. When it runs dry, the agriculture industry in Texas and the nation is in jeopardy.

  • Why Insurance Companies Are Pulling Out of California and Florida, and How to Fix Some of the Underlying Problems

    By Melanie Gall

    When the nation’s No. 1 and No. 4 property and casualty insurance companies – State Farm and Allstate – confirmed that they would stop issuing new home insurance policies in California, it may have been a shock but shouldn’t have been a surprise. It’s a trend Florida and other hurricane- and flood-prone states know well. Insurers have been retreating from high-risk, high-loss markets for years after catastrophic events. As losses from natural hazards steadily increase, research shows it’s not a question of if insurance will become unavailable or unaffordable in high-risk areas – it’s a question of when.