Extreme weather and the Polycrisis
Sam Cherubin (Climate Cat)
Climate Change & Health | Author of "The Crisis is Here: Protecting Your Health In a Changing World"
Climate makes everything worse
“Fire, heat, drought and flood will transform our world this century. These four horsemen of the Anthropocene will make much of our world unlivable for people.” (1)
Four words constantly come up when talking about climate:
Unprecedented
“Without previous instance; never before known or experienced; unexampled or unparalleled.” (2) But . . . new precedents are being set and reset daily. Global temperatures are shattering records: the hottest day, the hottest week, and the hottest year have all been surpassed multiple times. Unprecedented heat also means unprecedented heat exhaustion and heatstroke, dehydration and kidney failure, diabetes, and hypertension.
The Arctic and Antarctic are experiencing unprecedented melting rates, and once-in-a-century floods, droughts, and wildfires are common. Even ecosystems are reaching new thresholds, such as coral bleaching, which now occurs frequently.
The "unprecedented" is now the routine.
Extreme Weather
According to the World Meteorological Organization, "An extreme weather event is rare at a particular place and time of year, with unusual characteristics in magnitude, location, timing, or extent." (3) In 2023, there were over 20 extreme weather events in the United States that each caused more than $1 billion in damages. These included hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, and heatwaves. Globally, the frequency and intensity of extreme weather has increased by over 40% in the last two decades.
The extreme events of today will not seem so extreme tomorrow.
Exacerbate
"To make a problem, bad situation, or negative feeling worse or more severe." (4)
• Climate change exacerbates food and water insecurity, economic instability, social inequality, and health crises.
• Rising sea levels exacerbate coastal flooding, and prolonged droughts intensify agricultural losses.
• Climate exacerbates mosquito and tick populations, causing malaria, dengue fever, Zika virus, chikungunya, West Nile virus, and Lyme disease.
• Heatwaves make urban living conditions unbearable, especially for vulnerable populations, while climate-induced stress is aggravating mental health issues worldwide.
Every problem is making other problems worse.
Polycrisis
Also called “compound hazards,” this describes multiple crises that amplify each other, creating an overwhelming impact. Climate change is a polycrisis: a crescendo of interconnected crises that interact unpredictably. Each crisis: rising temperatures, water scarcity, biodiversity loss, economic collapse, and mass migration, builds upon the others, creating a complex and devastating cascade.
Hurricanes, wildfires, droughts, floods, and heatwaves aren’t random or independent “one-off” occurrences. They interconnect through shared underlying causes, and they influence each other in significant ways. Here's how we can understand these connections:
Shared Climate Drivers
Many extreme weather events are driven by the same broader climate patterns, like increased global temperatures, altered jet streams, or shifts in ocean currents (El Niño and La Niña). For instance, rising sea surface temperatures lead to more intense hurricanes, which lead to droughts by altering rainfall patterns.
Cascading Effects
One extreme weather event will trigger or worsen another. For example:
• A heatwave can dry out vegetation, increasing the risk of wildfires.
• Wildfires release smoke and particulates into the atmosphere, affecting air quality and potentially altering weather patterns.
• Wildfire smoke increases asthma attacks and hospitalizations.
Systemic Impacts
Extreme weather events affect ecosystems, infrastructure, and communities, creating vulnerabilities that make other events more damaging. For example, flooding from a hurricane might weaken levees, making an area even more susceptible to future flooding.
Extreme weather creates lingering side effects, which intertwine with one another, creating consequences that shape our landscape, communities, and health. This overlapping can be visualized as waves or converging forces multiplying the overall impact, driving the world toward greater instability.
Let’s explore how extreme weather directly affects our health and the healthcare systems we rely on. The ripple effects are far-reaching, from the immediate injuries and deaths caused by extreme weather events to the cascading impacts on food and water supplies.
Injuries and Deaths: Hurricanes, floods, and heatwaves take a toll on our bodies and our loved ones. Suffering doesn’t end with the storm. Chronic conditions worsen and disrupted medical care turns manageable illnesses into serious threats.
Fragile Healthcare Systems: During extreme weather, power fails, roads wash away, and hospitals are overwhelmed. Treatments are delayed, medications run out, and mortality rises.
Food and Water Crisis: Polluted rivers, wells, and salinated soil make water and food unsafe. Drinking water turns undrinkable, and crops wither under the heat.
Migration and Overcrowding: When homes are lost to rising water, people are forced to flee. Price gouging on essential goods and exploiting vulnerable populations are common.
Mental Health Strain: Disasters shatter buildings and spirits. Lost homes, drained savings, and helplessness are heavy on the soul. Anxiety rises, depression deepens, and the echoes of trauma linger long after the skies clear.
Pollution: Toxic waste, plastic debris, and poisoned water seep into our lives. Exposure to pollutants results in respiratory illness, cancers, infertility, miscarriages, and chronic disease.
Hurricane Maria
Polycrisis can be seen in Hurricane Maria’s impact on Puerto Rico in 2017. The entire island lost power, with some areas experiencing outages for months. The outdated and fragile electrical infrastructure was destroyed. Residents faced dangerous living conditions without refrigeration for food and medicine and reliable access to clean water.
The healthcare system was severely damaged; hospitals were overwhelmed, supplies ran out, and many healthcare facilities were rendered inoperative. Limited access to medical services led to higher mortality rates, particularly from treatable conditions. Mental health crises emerged due to the compounded stress of natural disasters and prolonged recovery efforts.
Hurricane Maria caused a near-total collapse of Puerto Rico's cellular network. Over 95% of cell sites were knocked out of service. The lack of cellular service resulted in a communication blackout across the island, making it nearly impossible for residents to contact emergency services and loved ones or receive updates.
The economy suffered a huge blow, with estimated damages exceeding $90 billion. Tourism, agriculture, and local businesses were particularly hard hit. Agricultural losses were immense, with crops destroyed and livestock lost, affecting food supply and livelihoods. Small businesses were wiped out, leading to widespread unemployment. Puerto Rico, a hub for pharmaceutical manufacturing, saw many facilities damaged, disrupting production and global supply chains.
The devastation Puerto Rico experienced is a single example of the mass disasters that are happening globally with increasing frequency and intensity. From wildfires in Australia to floods in Europe, no region is immune. We can’t pick and choose which disasters to prepare for. Instead, we must be informed, explore each scenario, and consider their combined effects.
ALL extreme weather disproportionately impacts people of color, the poor, seniors, and people with chronic conditions. People with “Low socioeconomic status” are much more likely to live in urban heat islands, heavily polluted environments, and areas that are flood-prone or have poorly maintained infrastructure. They also have compromised access to quality sanitation and drinking water. (5)
Since we can’t return to how things used to be, we must adapt to the Earth we live on now.
As we navigate this new reality, we need a mind-shift - a change in perspective. “If you do not control the complex landscape of a challenge (and you rarely do), the most powerful thing you can do is change how you behave in that landscape” (6)
Vision is the mother of protection; we can’t protect ourselves from the dangers we don’t see. By understanding the threat horizon, we can prepare. Through vision, we can turn our fear and confusion into action.
Confronting the 'crescendo of crises' and approaching the future responsibly means:
• Sharing information, tools, and strategies
• Providing hope and fostering resilience in the face of the unknown
• Learning to use weather monitoring systems and alerts
• Getting involved with our communities and building stronger, more connected networks
• Becoming 'climate health literate' by understanding health risks and preparedness strategies
• Supporting mental health initiatives that address the emotional toll of climate-related crises
1. Gaia Vince, Nomad Century: How Climate Migration Will Reshape Our World (New York: Flatiron Books, 2022), 10.
2. Dictionary.com, s.v. "unprecedented," accessed December 29, 2024, https://www.dictionary.com/browse/unprecedented.
3. World Meteorological Organization, "Extreme Weather," accessed December 29, 2024, https://wmo.int/topics/extreme-weather.
4. Langeek, s.v. "exacerbate," accessed December 29, 2024, https://dictionary.langeek.co/en/word/62755.
5. Cecilia J. Sorensen et al., "Clinical Implications of Climate Change on US Emergency Medicine: Challenges and Opportunities," Annals of Emergency Medicine 76, no. 2 (2020): 167–179, accessed December 29, 2024, https://www.annemergmed.com/article/S0196-0644(20)30192-X/fulltext.
6. Christiana Figueres and Tom Rivett-Carnac, The Future We Choose: Surviving the Climate Crisis (New York: Knopf, 2020).