Forecast: More Extreme Precipitation In 2070-2099

Climate change is already causing more extreme rainfall in much of the continental U.S., and that trend will continue in the coming years, an analysis for the 2018 National Climate Assessment projected. It used two different scenarios for greenhouse gas emissions — where the most extreme precipitation events would occur and to what degree they would differ from current rainfall.

% change

Note: The analysis projected precipitation in the heaviest 1 percent of events for 2070-2099 compared with 1986-2015.

Source: Data analysis and maps from the 2018 National Climate Assessment (Volume 2, Chapter 2, Figure 2.6). Annotations by NPR.

Credit: Rebecca Hersher and Alyson Hurt/NPR