The 15th installment of NOAA's Arctic Report Card NOAA’s 15th Arctic Report Card catalogs the numerous ways that climate change continues to disrupt the polar region.
From larger, more intense wildfires to more frequent flash floods, global warming has added to the rising cost of natural hazards. Current spending on infrastructure isn't enough to cover repairs and upgrades.
Extreme heat in the U.S. Southwest carried August 2020 into the record books as the country’s third-warmest August in the 126-year record. Despite heavy rain from landfalling tropical cyclones, national average precipitation was in the driest third of the record.
The latest monthly summary from the National Centers for Environmental Information also reported that the year-to-date temperature was the eighth warmest in the 126-year record.
While May 2020 precipitation deficits drew parts of the West deeper into drought, parts of the Upper Midwest, Ohio Valley, and the Southeast got soaked.
As the region’s dry summer approaches, precipitation deficits pose a threat to livestock operators, farmers, and fish, and heighten the risk of wildfires.
