Climate Change Intensifies Extreme Weather and Shifts Risk Baselines

Intensifying Rainfall and Extreme Events

• 🌧️ Tremendous rainfall rates are a direct consequence of climate change, with top 1-2% rain events increasing in intensity over the last 50 years across the US.
• ⚠️ The flooding disaster in Texas, labeled a one in 500-year event, highlights how climate change is rapidly changing the odds of extreme weather.

Shifting Benchmarks for Risk

• ⏳ Historical weather events like "storm X" or "hurricane Y" are no longer reliable benchmarks for planning due to shifting climate conditions.
• 🧠 Humans tend to use past experiences as a benchmark, but increasingly, current extreme weather events are unprecedented.

Adjusting to Higher Risk

• 📈 We must adjust our sense of risk, recognizing that we are at higher risk now than in previous generations, even in the same locations.
• ⚠️ Relying on past experiences or current standards for adaptation may fail when it's needed most, as demonstrated by extreme events like the one in Texas.
• 💡 The concept of a shifting baseline means that what was once considered an extreme event can become more frequent, requiring a re-evaluation of preparedness.