Climate change caused the Texas flooding tragedy

And ignorance and cowardice will continue to fuel these monster disasters.

For my piece on the human disaster in Texas last week, click here.

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Imagine a rising tide—a gradual swell that gathers force until it overwhelms the beach, moving onto the shore, and swallowing everything in its path.

That swell is the warming of Earth’s atmosphere and oceans.

During the past five years, the intensity of extreme floods and droughts has doubled compared to the 2003–2020 average. Meanwhile, heatwave data reveal that in 2024, the world saw 41 additional days of extreme heat above historical averages.

These are not statistical anomalies—they are the new normal.

The 1.3 °C rise in global temperature above pre-industrial levels means air is holding more moisture, oceans are warmer, jet streams have fragmented- all lending themselves to slower-moving storms, sudden flooding, and unrelenting heat domes.

And this year has thus far been a testament to those dramatic and violent changes.