Climate change to bring North Texas longer droughts, heavy rains, 120-degree temps within 25 years

The United States has just come off a record year for weather and climate disasters and, by most accounts, it's only going to get worse.

Climate change will make such sights more common in Texas.

Last year hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria; the wildfires and floods in California; and tornado outbreaks in the Midwest and the South delivered $306.2 billion in damages, more than any year in history when adjusted for inflation.

Texas is particularly vulnerable to a changing climate. It has had more costly weather-related disasters than any other state, and those events will happen more often as air and ocean temperatures climb, scientists say.

Read Anna Kuchment’s story from the Dallas News - “Climate change to bring North Texas longer droughts, heavy rains, 120-degree temps within 25 years.”

'We Must Act on Climate' - U.S. Surgeon General

Climate change is a serious threat to public health, particularly for pregnant women, children, communities of color and low-income people, a government report issued Monday has warned.

The report, The Impacts of Climate Change on Human Health in the United States: A Scientific Assessment, finds that rising temperatures in the coming years will bring along with them the increased risk of:

-      death from heat stroke, particularly in the summer months;

-      chronic and acute respiratory issues;

-      vector-borne illnesses like the West Nile virus and Lyme disease, as well as the new emergence of new pathogens;

-      chemical toxins in the food chain;

-      and mental health consequences of being exposed to climate disasters—among a litany of other risks.

“Every American is vulnerable to the health impacts associated with climate change,” White House Science Adviser John Holdren said Monday. “Some are more vulnerable than others.”

Read the EcoWatch story - “Surgeon General’s Warning: We Must Act on Climate.”