A severe storm ripped through the Midwest on the last day of March, providing yet another reminder of some of the worst and most immediate effects of the changing climate.
What's happening?
While it's difficult, if not impossible, to link rapidly rising global temperatures to particular weather systems, the warming planet is making extreme events more frequent and severe.
Wind, hail, and ice wreaked havoc, knocking out power to 300,000 customers in Michigan, ABC News reported. In Wisconsin and Indiana, 90,000 households were affected.
Three children were killed in Michigan when a tree fell on a minivan. Two people were killed in Indiana.
"High winds ... came down fast. … There's really nothing anybody could've done," Kalamazoo County Sheriff Richard Fuller said. "No vehicle would have stood up to this."
Why is this important?
Floods, droughts, and heat waves are among the weather events happening more often and increasing in severity. Small, short, and rare thunderstorm wind events are harder to pin down, but a 2023 study showed that they are intensifying because of the warming climate.
"You can store more moisture in a warmer atmosphere, so you can evaporate more. This means that the temperature difference between the surrounding air and the air that falls out of the thunderstorm is getting bigger, which causes a stronger downdraft and a stronger wind at the surface," Andreas Prein, author and scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, said, per Eos.
Prein added that there has been "a clear increase" in derechos and other straight-line wind events that "is not slowing down."
What's being done about extreme weather?
Eos reported that fortifying infrastructure to withstand high winds is essential for withstanding severe weather now and in the future. More detailed weather forecasts could also help save lives and property, and the development of warning systems would allow officials to close roads and take other precautions.
Another way to minimize the risk of these events is to cut the production of planet-warming gases, which largely come from the burning of dirty energy sources for fuel and agriculture. By turning to clean energy alternatives such as wind and solar power, individuals, corporations, and governments can help carve a path to a safer future.
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