Erika Spanger and Marc Alessi contributed to this post.
This week in Danger Season we’re thinking about the current whiplash the nation is experiencing from both our climate and our politics, we’re looking at the gathering eastern US heat wave, and we’re thinking about who all of this hurts most.
Heat whiplash
This week, major heat risk is expanding across much of the eastern US. By Monday, 80 million people are expected to be facing “major” heat risk with 16 million more facing “extreme heat risk”. These conditions are extremely dangerous—and have already been deadly this summer—to anyone without cooling and hydration. The National Weather Service (NWS) forecasts this dangerous heat to persist “across portions of the Central and Southeast US through July.”
A new poll from ecoAmerica finds “overwhelming concern as heat grips the nation. Eighty-six percent of Americans say extreme heat is increasing their concern about climate change, and 89% see it as a serious health risk. A strong majority (82%) recognize climate change as the driver of extreme weather, including a 17-point surge among Republicans since 2021. Amid proposed cuts to FEMA and NOAA, nearly 8 in 10 Americans say they’re more worried about the government’s ability to protect them.”
Hydroclimate whiplash
Many factors led to the tragic flooding in Texas earlier this month. One of them is “hydroclimate whiplash.” In his latest blog, UCS Science Fellow Marc Alessi explains this increasingly common “whiplash” phenomenon—a period of extremely dry followed by excessively wet conditions. These conditions were seen in Texas and contributed to the severity of the recent flash flooding.
To understand hydroclimate whiplash, it helps to imagine the atmosphere as a giant sponge that will absorb water until it reaches its limit, then wring it out, dropping water to Earth’s surface. With fossil fuel-driven climate change, the atmosphere is warmer, which makes our atmospheric ‘sponge’ much bigger, which in turn makes it able to hold more water, allowing for longer periods of time with no rainfall. This results in more droughts. But when the atmosphere finally does release that moisture, it releases more water at once, resulting in more intense precipitation and deadly flash flooding events. We’ve long noted the impact this will have to water managers and infrastructure.
In Kerr County, Texas, the epicenter of the flash flooding, severe to exceptional drought conditions were present three days before the flash flooding event on July 4. In other words, this part of Texas was experiencing some of its driest conditions on record. But as moisture accumulated into the region from the remnants of Tropical Storm Barry, the atmospheric sponge quickly reached its limit, and unleashed torrential downpours, with places in Kerr County receiving 10-plus inches of rain in a couple of hours. These hydroclimate whiplash events are becoming more common as fossil fuel-driven climate change worsens. (Dig in deeper in Marc’s blog on hydroclimate whiplash.)
Policy and political whiplash
The first six months of the Trump administration have been a policy whiplash, particularly for those of us following climate change impacts and the oversized need for federal investments in preparedness funding, policies, technical assistance, and outreach. UCS released a study, Science and Democracy Under Siege, this week that explains exactly why we’re all feeling that whiplash. The study catalogs the president’s 402 attacks on science during his first 6 months, almost double the 207 from his entire first term. . You may recall on inauguration day how President Trump signed 26 executive orders, 7 of which were attacks on major climate change policies, such as withdrawing from the Paris Agreement. Within his first month he had signed 73 orders, undoing major climate and environmental policy milestones and progress from previous administrations.
The Trump administration caused whiplash to federal agencies as well, including those that implement environmental regulations and provide weather predictions and research/satellite data that we rely on. Federal agencies experienced brutal staffing cuts, including at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) (-24%), Department of Energy (DOE) (-13%), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) (-11%). FEMA lost one-third of its staff, many of whom were senior. All of these agencies are going through a brain drain that will take countless years to replace.
Adding salt to the wounds are the large budget cuts to federal agencies: NOAA suffered a proposed 27% budget cut (which was pushed back thanks to advocacy efforts like yours and ours), while the administration cut FEMA programs like the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) Program.
While the immediate whiplash is being felt by those of us who are tracking climate-related policy on a daily basis and those within the federal government, the ultimate whiplash will be felt by communities on the ground who rely on the federal government when things get tough. They live their lives counting on the federal government to help with their resilience building, and to respond and assist when a catastrophe hits, like the flash flood disaster in Central Texas. But not under this Trump administration. Nope, this administration has been planning all along to dismantle FEMA and push the disaster response and recovery burden to the states. As I wrote in my recent blog, the Trump administration’s plan and dysfunction unfolded in Texas tragically, to the horror of us all.
Things you can do today
The first thing you can do is make sure you and your family will be safe from these extreme weather and climate-related impacts. You can ensure you’re aware of extreme weather like floods, heat, wildfires and hurricanes by purchasing, if you’re able, a weather radio, a DIY cost-effective, life-saving, weather alert system for your home. You also want to know your risk to these events (e.g. whether you’re in a floodplain or a fire zone), know your evacuation route, make a plan and a Go Bag for you and your loved ones in case you find yourself under a weather alert or warning.
To fend off the dangerous budget cuts, call on members of Congress to demand they protect federal policies and federal agency budgets that keep people safe from these climate impacts. While we are hopeful that Congress will stand strong and continue to reject the vast majority of the administration’s drastic cuts to NOAA’s budget, what good is a fully budgeted NOAA without the staff to disburse the funds, update and upkeep its radars and hurricane aircraft, and research improvements to its forecasting capabilities? The ongoing federal hiring freeze, the lack of rehiring for critical vacancies, and potentially additional firings, will risk NOAA not being able to do fulfill its congressionally mandated responsibility. We must demand that Congress include federal hiring guardrails that ensures NOAA and all federal agencies are fully staffed and equipped to implement the budget Congress ultimately passes and the work that Congress mandates them to do.
Finally, register today to join UCS for a virtual “Protect NOAA and FEMA” action hour on Tuesday, July 29, from 12:00 to 1:30 pm when we will:
- Break down what’s at stake in Congress right now;
- Offer a brief training on effective advocacy techniques;
- Help you take action in real time—through emails, social media, and more; and
- Share next steps to keep the pressure on.
I’m going to be there and I hope you’ll join me and my colleagues to defend science, protect communities, and hold decision makers accountable! Register today.