Extreme Weather Rises as Climate Change Slips from Political Focus

-Editorial 

As extreme weather events intensify worldwide, climate scientists and community leaders say the impacts of climate change are becoming more visible even as public discussion of the issue has diminished amid shifting political priorities and changing government policies.

The observations came during an American Community Media briefing that brought together researchers and resilience advocates to discuss how communities are responding to increasing heat, wildfire smoke, flooding and other climate-related hazards.

Karen McKinnon, an associate professor of statistics and the environment at UCLA, said recent heat waves in Europe and the eastern United States, along with widespread wildfire smoke from Canada, illustrate how climate change is influencing weather extremes.

“We are really feeling the impacts of climate and weather extremes,” McKinnon said. “There is an interesting moment right now where we can be more aware of and potentially more responsive to climate change, while also seeing political pushback.”

McKinnon said climate scientists expect a projected El Niño event to increase global temperatures because the phenomenon transfers heat from the ocean into the atmosphere. While scientists have not reached consensus on whether climate change is altering El Niño itself, she said its effects are amplified by an already warmer climate.

“We know the El Niños we’re getting now are happening on top of the fact that we already have a warming climate,” she said. “The impacts of a given El Niño are greater now because the already increased temperatures are then adding to the El Niño-induced warmer temperatures.”

She added that warmer atmospheric conditions also increase the amount of moisture the air can hold, contributing to heavier precipitation during extreme weather events.

McKinnon said climate science has advanced significantly in recent years, allowing researchers to better connect individual weather extremes with long-term climate trends.

“For a long time, we talked about global mean temperature change,” she said. “Now it’s much easier to identify climate change in specific high-impact events. We can say with much greater confidence how the probability of some of these extremes has changed because of climate change.”

She said communicating those local impacts may resonate more with the public than discussions centered on global temperature targets.

“I don’t think the average person connects with a statement that the world is warming by 2 degrees Celsius,” McKinnon said. “People understand when wildfire smoke keeps children from playing outside or when extreme heat makes it unsafe to be outdoors.”

Asked whether climate change can be reversed, McKinnon said reducing greenhouse gas emissions remains essential while communities continue adapting to current conditions.

“We know exactly the cause of climate change,” she said. “In theory, we know how to reverse it, but in practice it requires large structural changes to reduce carbon emissions. In the meantime, adaptation is necessary to help people maintain safe and productive lives.”

Shina Robinson, resilience projects director for the Asian Pacific Environmental Network, said frontline communities often experience multiple environmental threats simultaneously, including industrial pollution, wildfire smoke, extreme heat and aging housing infrastructure.

“Our communities face the daily environmental injustices you would expect from living near refineries, heavy industry and high-traffic corridors,” Robinson said. “Then climate impacts add another layer to those threats.”

Robinson highlighted the organization’s work developing resilience hubs — trusted community facilities that provide services year-round while also serving as emergency resources during disasters.

She cited the Lincoln Recreation Center in Oakland’s Chinatown, which is being redeveloped into what she said will become one of the nation’s first municipal resilience hubs.

“We’re looking at resilient communities as organized communities and connected communities,” Robinson said. “When working-class families may not have the means to install solar panels or buy expensive air filters on their own, investing in shared community spaces allows us to keep many more people safe.”

The renovated center will include rooftop solar panels, battery backup systems, upgraded air filtration, emergency shelter capabilities and a community kitchen designed to operate during power outages.

Robinson said the project reflects years of community involvement and demonstrates how climate adaptation can be integrated with neighborhood services.

“These are the folks who are least responsible for the climate crisis but are bearing the heaviest burden,” she said. “Because of their leadership and advocacy, we’re about to see something the city hasn’t seen before.”

Mark Valentine, senior adviser for the Omega Resilience Awards and founder of ReFrame It, said resilience efforts should emphasize community knowledge and local leadership rather than focusing solely on large-scale infrastructure projects.

The Omega Resilience Awards support grassroots leaders in Africa, Latin America, and Asia who are developing local responses to environmental, economic, and social challenges.

Valentine said climate coverage often focuses on disasters without connecting them to broader climate trends or community solutions.

“There’s certainly disappearing coverage of climate change itself,” Valentine said. “But coverage is abundant about wildfire and heat and drought. What’s missing is connecting those dots and identifying opportunities for communities to respond.”

He said communities in developing countries have also challenged the language commonly used to describe resilience.

“There’s a lot of bristling at the term ‘resilience,’” Valentine said. “People don’t want to be congratulated for surviving crises that were not of their making.”

Valentine cautioned that some large-scale renewable energy and mining projects intended to address climate change can also create new challenges for local communities if they proceed without meaningful public participation.

“We need to be careful about pursuing global goals that have acute local ramifications,” he said. “There’s a lot of knowledge at the community level that needs to be tapped when identifying strategies for adaptation and resilience.”