US Has Already Seen 7 Different Billion-Dollar Weather Disasters This Year: NOAA - Common Dreams
Seven different billion-dollar or more extreme weather events struck the U.S. during the first four months of 2023.
That’s one of the “notable” findings from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) April State of the Climate report, released Monday.
“The number of billion dollar disasters so far in 2023 is significant,” NOAA wrote. “Only 2017 and 2020 had more during this timeframe, with eight separate disasters recorded in the January-April period.”
In total, the extreme weather events killed 97 people and caused more than $19 billion in damages. They come as the nation has seen 60 such disasters in the past three years, the most in that timeframe since record-keeping began in 1980, The Weather Channel reported.
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In general, scientists have concluded that the climate crisis—driven primarily by the burning of fossil fuels—makes several types of extreme weather events either more frequent or severe or both.
“The impacts of climate change are already being felt in communities across the country,” the authors of the Fourth National Climate Assessment wrote. “More frequent and intense extreme weather and climate-related events, as well as changes in average climate conditions, are expected to continue to damage infrastructure, ecosystems, and social systems that provide essential benefits to communities.”
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Another signal of climate change in the latest NOAA report is the unseasonably warm winter many states experienced.
“So far, 2023 stands out for the remarkable warmth that covered many parts of the U.S., with some states seeing their warmest January—April period on record,” NOAA said.
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