extreme weather Archives - State of the Planet

Why Climate Change Is a National Security Risk

The U.S. Defense Department regards climate change as a “threat multiplier” that exacerbates existing environmental stresses and national security risks, and affects everything it does.

by |October 11, 2023

Study Identifies Jet-Stream Pattern That Locks in Extreme Winter Cold, Wet Spells

Recently, scientists connected giant waves in the global jet stream to hot, dry spells gripping widely separated parts of the planet at the same time. Now they have done the same for winter weather.

by |October 4, 2023

Adapting to our Warming Planet Despite our Dysfunctional Congress

The renewable energy transition has begun, but it will not happen rapidly. In the meantime, we need to invest in infrastructure and other measures that will enable human settlements to withstand the impact of extreme weather and recover from the damage that inevitably comes.

by |October 2, 2023

Avoiding Environmental Panic

People are experiencing the climate crisis firsthand, and it is changing their understanding of how the world works. The crisis is real, but so, too, is our determination to address it.

by |July 24, 2023

Paying the Costs of Climate Resilience

We need a stronger and more resilient built environment to withstand the rains, wind, heat, and cold of climate-accelerated extreme weather events.

by |July 17, 2023

What We Need to Learn From Climate-Accelerated Extreme Weather Events

We need to build our response capacity leading up to extreme-weather emergencies and implement a more systematic and assured process of reconstruction for victims in the aftermath.

by |March 6, 2023

She Led Scientists Advising New York on Climate Change. Did the City Listen?

Cynthia Rosenzweig co-chaired the New York City Panel on Climate Change, an expert body advising the mayor, from its inception four years before Hurricane Sandy, and well after. Here, she assesses what was learned, and done, before and after.

by |October 29, 2022

New York City’s Former Top Climate Official on the Lessons of Hurricane Sandy

Engineer Daniel Zarrilli advised both the Bloomberg and deBlasio administrations in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. He is now a special advisor on sustainability and climate to Columbia University.

by |October 20, 2022

A Climate and Weather Expert on What We Know About Giant Storms Since Sandy

A scientist and writer reflects on the links between climate and extreme weather, New York City’s preparedness, and the role of the media in informing the public.

by |October 19, 2022

Climate-Fueled Extreme Weather: Protection, Recovery, and Reconstruction

When a weather disaster happens every hundred years, it is an emergency. When it happens every year, it is a routine, periodic occurrence from which we need to protect ourselves.

by |October 3, 2022