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Researching and reporting the science and impacts of climate change 🌎

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🗓️Tuesday, January 20 | 12pm ET

Join us for a live discussion breaking down December’s climate numbers, the latest global & U.S. climate change data, and a deep dive into 2025’s U.S. Billion-Dollar Weather Disasters.

🔗Register: climatecentral-org.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
January 9, 2026 at 10:16 PM
December Rewind:

♨️ 12 U.S. cities had their hottest December on record
🌡️ 95 of 194 cities were warmer than average
📍 The Southwest was most unusual: temps ran 9.4°F+ above normal
🥵 Casper, WY was warmest, ending 12.1°F above average

Details + Data 👉 www.climatecentral.org/report/month...
January 9, 2026 at 10:06 PM
Heat, dry air, & fire weather raising concerns across southern Australia.

Meanwhile, Queensland could see tropical development, up to 250 mm of 24hr rain, & coastal winds ~90 km/h

This system is boosted by ocean temperatures 1.8–2°C above average, unusual warmth made more likely by climate change.
January 8, 2026 at 9:39 PM
🗣️ “This kind of persistent extreme heat – especially during peak bushfire season – the landscape dries out rapidly, increasing the risk of dangerous bushfire conditions....These events are increasing the frequency & intensity of bushfires" - @kaitlyntrudeau.bsky.social
January 8, 2026 at 9:13 PM
📍 Jan. 7–11: Daily temps reached/forecasted:

CSI Level 2 — a strong climate change fingerprint — in cities including Sydney, Newcastle, and Alice Springs.

CSI Level 5 — almost impossible without climate change — across much of South Australia, southern NT, and parts of southeastern NSW.
January 8, 2026 at 9:13 PM
♨️ Australian Heat Wave

A 'severe' to 'extreme' heat wave is underway, with highs of 41–46.7°C (106–116°F) — running 15–16°C (27–29°F) above average for early-mid January.

Human-caused climate change is making dangerous heat like this not only more likely but more intense.
January 8, 2026 at 9:13 PM
Severe storms are the most frequent type of billion-dollar weather and climate disaster, accounting for more than half of all such events in the U.S. since 1980.

And the last three years have seen a ton!
January 8, 2026 at 4:57 PM
🌊If it seems like billion-dollar disasters have been happened more often, you're right!

The average time between disasters in 2025 was just 10 days.

In the 1980s, it was 82 days. 🗓️
January 8, 2026 at 4:57 PM
🔥🌪️⛈️The 23 billion-dollar disasters included 1 wildfire, 1 drought/heatwave and a record 21 severe weather events.

The past three years rank highest for the annual number of billion-dollar disasters.
January 8, 2026 at 4:57 PM
🧵📊The data is in. 2025 ranks as the third-highest year (after 2023 and 2024) for billion-dollar weather and climate disasters — with 23 such events costing a total of $115 billion in damages.
www.climatecentral.org/climate-matt...
January 8, 2026 at 4:57 PM
Climate change supercharges the water cycle, raising odds of heavier rain & flood risks.

📍Honolulu: heaviest rain days have increased slightly over the past 50+ years.

As warming continues, rainfall extremes are expected to rise globally, even in places getting less rain overall.
January 6, 2026 at 1:50 PM
Reminder: A warmer atmosphere is a thirstier atmosphere

It holds more moisture, giving weather systems like this Kona low more water to work with.

Warmer oceans allow for more evaporation into this bigger “sponge”...extra moisture that can be wrung out as heavier rain.
January 6, 2026 at 1:50 PM
Let's start with the moisture supply...

Ocean temperatures around the islands are running 1.5°–2°F ABOVE average for early January.

Climate Shift Index shows warmth like this is at least 10–20x more likely due to human-caused, heat-trapping pollution.
January 6, 2026 at 1:50 PM
With a Kona low north of the islands, rain & flood concerns are steadily starting to taper off across Hawaii Tuesday.

While this rain is helpful to ease drought, climate change adds a fingerprint by making heavy rainfall more intense.

A quick 🧵to dive in...
January 6, 2026 at 1:50 PM
The [January] heat is on.

Much of the Central & Eastern U.S. will walk out to temps 10°–25° ABOVE average.

The core of this warmth: the Plains.

Climate Shift Index shows early January heat like this would be rare -- or nearly impossible -- without human-caused climate change
January 6, 2026 at 1:28 PM
We know that talking with others about climate change can feel daunting. But people care about climate change (and want to talk about it) more than you probably think!

Find tips on how to start the conversation in our recent Climate Matters
buff.ly/aWXmpnE
January 5, 2026 at 8:26 PM
As temperatures rise, primarily due to heat-trapping pollution, the atmosphere gets “thirstier,” pulling more moisture from soils, streams, and plants, causing/worsening drought.

Since 2000, atmospheric thirst has become the leading driver of drought in the western U.S.
January 5, 2026 at 8:26 PM
🌊With coastal flooding forecast along the West Coast, check out @climatecentral.org's suite of interactive and commercial products to help understand climate impacts on communities.
buff.ly/3jEDGaI
January 2, 2026 at 7:28 PM
As 2025 comes to a close, here are five ways that carbon pollution from fossil fuels made record heat, hurricanes, fires, and floods worse this year, disrupting lives in the U.S. and beyond.
buff.ly/veqF8co
December 31, 2025 at 8:30 PM
5️⃣Billion-dollar weather and climate disasters cost the U.S. $101.4 billion in the first half of 2025 — the costliest start to any year on record.

Rising billion-dollar losses reflect more frequent and intense extremes, plus more people, homes, and businesses exposed to risk.
December 31, 2025 at 6:09 PM
4️⃣The U.S. saw a record number of flash floods in 2025, which included the deadly July floods in Texas.

Climate change is supercharging the water cycle, bringing heavier rainfall extremes and higher inland flood risks across the U.S.
December 31, 2025 at 6:09 PM
3️⃣ The Los Angeles wildfires became the costliest wildfire event on record, causing more than $60 billion in damages — about twice the previous record.

@wwattribution.bsky.social found human-caused warming from burning fossil fuels made fire weather conditions 6% more intense and 35% more likely.
December 31, 2025 at 6:09 PM
2️⃣ Hurricane Melissa rapidly intensified over ocean waters 1.4°C (2.5°F) warmer than average -- conditions made at least 500x more likely by human-caused climate change.

That warmth likely boosted Melissa’s peak winds by ~11 mph & increased potential damages by up to 50%.
December 31, 2025 at 6:09 PM
1️⃣Heat-trapping carbon pollution made the vast majority of 2025’s record highs (89%) more likely and record lows (73%) less likely

In 2025, more than four times as many record highs (1,313) as record lows (298) were set.
December 31, 2025 at 6:09 PM
As we put the final period on 2025, it is virtually certain to rank among the 3 warmest years on record globally (following 2024 as the warmest & 2023 at #2)

Here’s a quick look back at some of the weather extremes that this heat -- driven in part by climate change -- helped shape over the past 365
December 31, 2025 at 6:09 PM