Trends in Impacts of Weather and Climate Extremes

Policy makers around the world have expressed concerns about the growing impacts on society of weather and climate extremes. The Worldwatch Institute recently estimated that worldwide, in 1998 weather and climate-related disasters resulted in $90 billion in economic losses and more than 32,000 deaths. Weather and climate impacts, as reported by the media informed by scientific information, shape policy maker perceptions. The perceptions that policy makers have about the causes and consequences of the impacts of extreme events are directly related to the responses that they support. This talk, based on a 1998 session of the Aspen Global Change Institute on Climate Extremes: Changes, Impacts, and Projections. It will address trends in impacts of extreme weather and climate events in the United States, with the objective of unraveling the interrelated social and climatological factors which underlie those trends. The talk suggests that many policy makers hold misperceptions about the causes and consequences of extreme event impacts on society. A more accurate view of the relationship of atmospheric extremes and societal impacts has provocative implications for research, policy, and the relation of the two.