One increasingly hot topic at the Society of Environmental Journalists annual conference is connecting extreme weather and climate change, which also served as a panel topic. Team Silverline is fortunate to have its own meteorologist, account manager, and climate expert Brad Carl, who shares his expertise on recent extreme weather. This month we witnessed a “1000-year flood” overtake Fort Lauderdale, Florida with 88 billion gallons of water falling in one day. As cited in The Washington Post’s coverage of the event, that rainfall is equivalent to the drinking water consumed by the entire U.S. population in nearly 1.5 years! If that doesn’t put things into perspective, does 13,600 Statues of Liberty filled with water do the trick?

Silverline’s Brad Carl, an experienced climate change expert, explains how unusually warm temperatures driver severe weather events across the United States. With a pair of devastating tornado outbreaks that produced a whopping 157 recorded twisters, last month became the most active December for tornadoes since NOAA began keeping records in 1950.