Hotter climate makes extreme storms more intense

Climate change is already causing more extreme rainfall in much of the continental U.S. That trend will continue through 2070-2099, according to an analysis for the 2018 National Climate Assessment, which shows two scenarios, one that accounts for lower greenhouse gas emissions and another for higher.

% change

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

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

Credit: Lauren Sommer, Koko Nakajima and Alyson Hurt/NPR