Few places went untouched by last year’s climate-fueled extreme weather. The summer brought scorching heat waves, including in regions of the world historically unaccustomed to and unprepared for triple-digit temps. In September, Hurricane Ian barrelled through the Caribbean and then slammed into the Florida coast—leaving a trail of destruction. Deadly flooding submerged a third of Pakistan, and the megadrought across the western United States continued to push water reserves to the brink. If we take a look at the early tallies, 2022 will likely go down as one of the deadliest and most expensive years for extreme weather to date.

At this point, there’s no more room for doubt: As the world warms, the impacts of that will continue to compound. That’s why we’re starting 2023 by talking about how this is happening and what we need to prioritize to better prepare.

How climate change is making extreme weather worse

There’s no question that climate change is making dangerous weather more frequent, intense, and unpredictable. For example, by 2050, more than half the world could live in a place that experiences dangerous heat for at least a month every year. Hotter temps cause a cascade of changes to the planet’s precipitation patterns. They also increase the rate at which water evaporates from the air, leading to more severe and pervasive droughts as well as more vicious wildfire seasons, with fires that spread faster and burn longer. A hotter ocean, which absorbs the vast majority of the earth’s excess heat, strengthens tropical cyclones. Warmer air, too, holds more moisture, making storms wetter, stronger, and more capable of destruction.

It’s important to note that climate change will affect different regions in different ways: In some places, people will see worsening droughts; in others, floods. When it comes to seasons, it could make winter storms, which can hold extra moisture, more extreme in cold months, while our summers get more brutal.

What we can do to better prepare for ongoing impacts

While climate mitigation remains crucial, climate adaptation is also key. This means learning how to, say, build homes that can more effectively withstand storms or protect our food supply from flooding. This kind of preparation is going to require policymakers to act more aggressively, it’s going to require funding, and it’s going to require that we stop neglecting the communities that bear the worst impacts.

At the international level, countries must turn their climate commitments into action, especially around financing, which is often a significant barrier for less wealthy countries trying to adapt. The largest historical emitters, like the United States, must also lead the way in making our global climate goals a reality. This is especially critical for the people whose lives will be most upended by worsening weather. We’re talking about those living without air-conditioning during a heat wave, or those who can’t evacuate in advance of a hurricane.

It would be easy to think this means there’s no way for you to help, but that’s not true. What we do in our corner of the world has ripple effects. You can start by making sure you’ve got these fundamental environmental habits down, which can impact everything from whether we elect climate champions to how we avoid falling for greenwashing schemes. You can also make use of these tax incentives from the new climate bill to help make your own home more climate friendly—because there is no question now that every bit of preparation matters. Wishing you all a safe, climate-ready 2023.

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