Climate Impact Report – 12/10

Key Facts Of The Day 12/10

Storms And Flooding

• A storm forecast to rapidly strengthen is on track to bring drenching rain, urban flooding, and powerful winds to the Northeast.
  • Thunderstorms are expected to hit southeastern Louisiana, southeastern Mississippi, central and southern Alabama, and southwestern Georgia.
• Another blast of Arctic air will follow a midweek East Coast rainstorm, and the frigid air will set off a few more feet of lake-effect snow in some towns across the Midwest.
• A winter storm watch was issued for 24 Michigan counties with 6-12 inches of snow possible. 

Wildfires

• As of Friday, December 6, there were zero large active wildfires in the United States. This year to date, 52,447 wildfires have burned 8,406,135 acres across the country.
• As of Tuesday morning, the Franklin Fire in Malibu, California, has burned more than 1,800 acres.
  • Residents in central and eastern Malibu, a city of more than 10,000 people, were under an evacuation order.
  • More than 10,000 people were without power in Los Angeles County.
  • The fire ripped through the dry terrain of the Santa Monica Mountains near Pepperdine University, which issued a shelter-in-place order.

Extreme Heat

• A new study found that climate change has led to insurance losses totaling about $600 billion over the last two decades.
  • Climate-related insurance losses have jumped from 31% to 38% in the last decade.
• A December 2024 study found that nearly one-third of the world’s species could be at risk for extinction because of climate change.
• The sea ice extent in the Antarctic has dipped to its lowest value on record for November.