Joe Romm: Flooding, tornadoes, hail and fire are in the forecast — and with costly outcomes. ABC News: ‘Scientists Say Human-Caused Climate Change Is … Creating More Heat Waves, Droughts And Intense Downpours’

Transcript

And once again tonight, flooding, tornadoes, hail, and fire as the nation takes another punch from mother nature and climate. ABC’s Clayton Sandell shows us what the weather and climate are doing and what it’s costing us.

Reporter: This tornado spotted near dix, Nebraska.
Just part of a weather juggernaut today pounding the plains and Midwest. In Minnesota, 60-mile-an-hour winds flipped big rigs. And were powerful enough to destroy a trailer in south Dakota, killing a woman inside.

In Boscobell, Wisconsin, eight inches of rain flooded half the town. Today, as fires continue ravaging the west, there’s not enough rain. Thousands of firefighters plus a fleet of aircraft are adding to the growing cost of weather disasters.

In 1980, $58 billion. By last year? Extreme weather and climate costs nearly doubled to $110 billion.
377 people were killed. Hurricane Sandy’s tab? 65 billion.

Drought and heat waves, another $30 billion. Fighting the black forest fire here in Colorado has already cost more than $10 million. And that doesn’t even count the cost of more than 500 homes that burned to the ground.

Scientists say human-caused climate change is already helping shift the planet’s natural balance. Creating more heat waves, drought, and intense downpours. A stormy and expensive reality, that’s already on our doorsteps.

Hell and High Water is here.