Extreme Weather Tops 2023 Trending News – What’s Needed in the New Year to Tackle Climate Change-Driven Disasters?
There’s been no shortage of attention-catching news this year – and the impacts of extreme weather were top of news readers’ minds, according to Google’s annual Year in Search Report. Three impactful hurricanes came in fourth through sixth on Google’s list of the top ten searches in 2023. These included Hurricane Hilary, which caused catastrophic flooding across portions of southern California, Hurricane Idalia, which slammed into the Big Bend area of Florida and dumped heavy rain along the southeastern coast of the U.S., and Hurricane Lee (at one point gaining Category 5 strength), which caused extensive power outages in Maine before making landfall in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia.
Scientists have become better at understanding the connections between climate change and hurricane growth and intensification. This link is important to note considering tropical cyclones are the costliest weather and climate disasters in the U.S. by a longshot – accounting for over half of the total cost of all billion-dollar disasters since 1980.
How Storms Are Impacted By Climate Change and What’s Being Done About It
Current research tells us there won’t necessarily be more hurricanes due to climate change, but those that do form will likely pack heavier rainfall and have the potential to rapidly intensify due to warmer sea surface temperatures. The risk of more costly and damaging storm surge from hurricanes and tropical storms also increases as a result of rising sea levels driven by climate change.
Since we also know that climate change is driven by carbon emissions, it’s clear we need to ramp up the work to decarbonize everything from transportation to energy generation to agriculture as quickly as possible (essentially – everything, everywhere, all at once). This makes the work we do in the clean energy and climate tech space all the more important – as the best way for us to tackle climate change is to innovate and mitigate to lower emissions. From new battery and energy storage technology, to solar farm development, to more sustainable approaches to growing our food, there are plenty of ways for us to make meaningful, bold progress on tackling this challenge.
The Climate Tech Revolution Unleashed
There’s already a lot happening in the space, but there’s always room for more as we work together to reduce the worst impacts of climate change at the pace and scale required to meet global decarbonization targets. With the passage and implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act, the buildout of new hydrogen hubs, steps forward being made at COP28, and countless other sustainability and climate initiatives happening in the U.S. and around the world, the innovations and solutions needed for us to make significant progress are not years down the line, but happening now. Silverline is proud to represent many of these changemakers and support our shared vision for a greener, more sustainable planet.
Whether hurricanes or other extreme weather events, it’s important to step up and do what’s necessary to curb emissions so disasters like these don’t intensify, particularly as they often occur in regions and communities that are least equipped to withstand the impacts. There’s plenty more for us to do in the new year and beyond. At Silverline, we’ll be keeping the clean energy and climate work going strong to build a better future.
For companies in the cleantech and climate tech space working to mitigate the severity of these disasters and fight climate change, connecting your innovations to news stories about climate disasters is a must-have part of your growth strategy. The team at Silverline can help.
Brad Carl earned his bachelor’s degree in atmospheric sciences from the University of Washington in 2011. An Emmy Award winner with more than eight years of experience in broadcast meteorology from Montana to Arkansas to Oklahoma, he also reported on climate change impacts, solutions, and sustainability efforts. Brad has been an Account Manager with Silverline since November 2021 and lends his subject matter expertise to clients across the climate and clean tech sector.