‘We are not prepared’: Disasters spread as climate change strikes

The warming planet is causing havoc under the strain from record heat, floods, storms and wildfires. And scientists warn the toll will get worse.

Torrential rainfall inundated much of the Northeast last weekend deluging hundreds of homes and killing one person. With many rural residents trapped and major roads closed, people waited days for rescues. | Charles Krupa/AP Photo

The floods, droughts, wildfires and extreme heat sweeping the globe are offering a dose of the climate future that scientists have warned about for decades — and all the ways the world is not ready.

From a nearly depleted federal disaster fund to state insurance markets that are faltering under the weight of multiple catastrophes, extreme weather is testing the ability of even a rich nation like the United States to withstand the warming that has arrived faster than many scientists expected. So are the torrential rains flooding Northeastern states like Vermont, the shriveling Colorado River that has prompted a multistate brawl over dividing the water, the record temperatures that have raised worries about the stability of the electric grid, and the Canadian wildfire smoke that has repeatedly blanketed D.C. and other parts of the U.S. in recent weeks.

Still ahead is the August-through-September peak of the Atlantic hurricane season, at a time when ocean temperatures — a crucial fuel source for the storms — are already at levels that European scientists called “off the charts.”

Even worse threats to life, property and nature are coming, scientists say.

“If you don’t like what you’re seeing today, stick around — it’s going to get […]

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