The devastating flash flood in Kerr County is part of a growing global pattern: climate change is intensifying extreme weather events. Warmer air holds more moisture, leading to heavier rainfall in shorter periods. As a result, floods are becoming more frequent, more destructive, and more deadly. This isn’t just in Texas, but across the United States and around the world. From Vermont to Spain to Pakistan, storms are overwhelming infrastructure never designed to handle this new climate reality.
Despite the clear link between global warming and worsening disasters, the Trump administration has moved to weaken our ability to prepare and respond. Cuts to the National Weather Service (NWS) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) are undermining the data and models that scientists rely on for forecasting. Without timely, accurate warnings, communities are left more vulnerable. Trump's stated plan to eliminate FEMA would further cripple the federal government's ability to respond to catastrophes, leaving local responders underfunded and overwhelmed.
Yet, even as floodwaters rise, some Americans push back when climate change is mentioned. The grief and trauma of disaster can make these conversations feel politicized. It’s the same emotional energy we see after school shootings, when calls for gun control are silenced. But this is precisely the time to discuss the cause, the science and the horrible consequences of politically inconvenient realities.
But science and sorrow are not mutually exclusive. If anything, grief demands honesty. To honor the lives disrupted and lost, we must speak clearly about what is making these disasters worse.
Guest:
Kate Marvel is the author of "Human Nature: Nine Ways to Feel about our Changing Planet." She is a climate scientist and science writer based in New York City. She is a senior scientist at Project Drawdown and was formerly an associate research scientist at NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies and Columbia Engineering's Department of Applied Physics and Mathematics.
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This episode will be recorded on Wednesday, July 16, 2025.
