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Overview
Overview
Climate change is intensifying extreme weather patterns, leading to more frequent and severe events such as extreme rainfall and urban flooding. These changes increase risks to both natural and urban environments, highlighting the growing need for effective solutions to manage and reduce these impacts.
Example of extreme weather
Example of extreme weather
Heat extremes- The frequency and intensity of heat extreme have increased primarily due to greenhouse gases.
Wildfires- As temperature continue to raise, hot and dry conditions increase the risk of wildfires.
Droughts- Warmer temperatures lead to greater evaporation of water from surface, turning some areas drier.
Heavy precipitation- As the Earth's temperature rises,, the warmer atmosphere can hold more water vapor, providing more water for intense rainfall and snowfall.
Floods- Increases in water vapor in the atmosphere lead to sea level rise and heavy rainfall, which ultimately cause flooding.
Drought condition persist
Drought condition persist
Higher temperatures also lead to drier conditions. When global temperatures rise, moisture evaporates from waterbodies and soil.
Droughts in the U.S. and elsewhere in the world have become more severe and long-lasting due to climate change. In fact, the American West is currently in the midst of a mega drought that ranks among the worst in the past 1,200 years, even after heavy rainfall in 2023.
Wildfires burn longer and wider
Wildfires burn longer and wider
Wildfires have always been a natural part of life in the western United States and Canada. However, as this region grows hotter and drier, wildfires are growing in size and speed.
In recent years, California gas been particularly prone to devastating blazes. with record dry and jot conditions across the state, seasonal high winds caused wildfires to grow and spread at an unprecedented rate.
Extreme heats get hotter
Extreme heats get hotter
As global temperature rise, the hottest temperature and the number of areas impacted by extreme heat are also rising. In California's Death Valley this July, thermometers neared the hottest temperature ever recorded, hovering around 53 degree Celsius. That same month, the average global temperature hit an all-time high.
Warmer temperatures drive increases in precipitation
Warmer temperatures drive increases in precipitation
As global temperatures rise, the atmosphere holds more water vapor, giving storms greater fuel to produce intense rainfall and snowfall. While drier regions tend to get drier, historically wet areas are becoming significantly wetter.
The consequences are already being felt — in July 2025, catastrophic storms in Texas killed at least 137 people, dumping a staggering volume of water in just hours and raising the Guadalupe River by over 20 feet. Scientists warn that climate change will make extreme events like this increasingly common.
A 2023 analysis found that 12.6 million U.S. properties previously considered safe from flooding are now at risk due to the growing likelihood of extreme precipitation.
Sea level rise and heavy rainfall causes flooding
Sea level rise and heavy rainfall causes flooding
Ocean waters are warming and expanding, while melting glaciers and ice caps are adding vast amounts of water to the seas. Together, these forces have raised average global sea levels by eight inches over the past 150 years.
The U.S. Atlantic coast and Gulf of Mexico are among the hardest-hit regions, where record rainfall on top of rising seas has resulted in increasingly catastrophic flooding.
But the threat doesn't stop at the coast. Inland cities are equally vulnerable to urban flooding, as roads and concrete prevent rainwater from being absorbed into the ground, rapidly overwhelming drainage systems that were not built to handle today's intensity of rainfall and resulting urban flooding.
References
References
Arielle Cermak. (2024, October 23). Extreme weather. NASA Science. https://science.nasa.gov/climate-change/extreme-weather/
Earthjustice. (2025, July 28). How climate change is fueling extreme weather. https://earthjustice.org/feature/how-climate-change-is-fueling-extreme-weather
National Academies Press. (2019, March 29). Trends affecting urban flooding. In Framing the challenge of urban flooding in the United States. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK541186/
UNDP Climate Box. (2026, March 4). 2.1. How climate change affects the weather. https://climate-box.com/textbooks/how-climate-change-affects-the-natural-world-and-human-beings/2-1-how-climate-change-affects-the-weather/
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