Wild Weather of the Future (1776 Edition)

By Chris Mooney| Tue Aug. 27, 2013: In this talk, meteorologist and America’s “Science Idol” contest winner Tom DiLiberto gives a forecast of the weather of the future—the weather that will be produced by climate change.

While some of the details remain scientifically cloudy—according to DiLiberto, we don’t yet understand what will happen to tornadoes in the future—much else is relatively clear. We’re going to have more extreme heat, more intense downpours, worse droughts in some areas, more intense hurricanes overall. At the same time, we also have more infrastructure, and more people, in harm’s way.

“Sure, maybe some things will be okay,” DiLiberto explains. “But other extreme events will be worse. And that’s just a forecast I don’t want to make.”

DiLiberto’s talk is from a live August 15 event held by Climate Desk—in collaboration with thirstDC and the Science Online Climate conference—to showcase new and innovative communication about climate change.