Hurricane Harvey Flooding Rescue in Texas. © Mannie Garcia / Greenpeace

Extreme weather & climate change

For years, scientists have warned us that climate change will lead to bigger, more intense, and more frequent storms. But it turns out they’re not the only ones who knew.

Whether it’s sea level rise making coastal cities more prone to flooding during storm surges, warmer ocean temperatures leading to stronger winds and rains, or climate-exacerbated drought, the scientific connections between climate change and extreme weather events are clear. And the consequences for communities on the frontlines are massive.

Storms like Hurricanes Katrina, Andrew, Sandy, Ike, Harvey, Irma, and others have claimed hundreds of lives in the United States alone. They’ve displaced hundreds of thousands of people — some who still can’t return home decades later — and destroyed livelihoods and businesses. The combined financial cost of these disasters is well into the billions. And while science cannot tell us that climate change caused these storms, it does tell us without a doubt that it made them more intense and more damaging.

Satellite Image of Hurricane Harvey. © NASA Earth Observatory

But it turns out it’s not just climate scientists who have known this was coming. The fossil fuel industry did, too — decades ago.

Exxon researchers warned management in 1982 that impacts from climate change could be catastrophic. But instead of acting to protect the public, Exxon and other fossil fuel companies waged a decades-long campaign to sow doubt about climate science, block policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and protect their own profits.

Sitting with the knowledge that climate change is real and its impacts serious, Exxon and others continued to exploit fossil fuels, worsening the problem and blocking the path to renewable energy.

Climate denial is not a victimless crime. When climate-fueled extreme weather events strike, it’s those who deny science and block climate action that must answer to the victims.

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Excessive Heat Wave in West Coast, California. © David McNew / Greenpeace
Signage cautions drivers of extreme heat danger as an excessive heatwave continues on July 9, 2024 in Death Valley National Park. Hundreds of Europeans touring the American West and adventurers from around the U.S. are still being drawn to Death Valley National Park, even though the desolate region known as one of the Earth’s hottest places is being punished by a dangerous heat wave blamed for a motorcyclist’s death over the weekend. French, Spanish, English and Swiss tourists left their air-conditioned rental cars this week to take photographs of the barren landscape so different than the snow-capped mountains and rolling green hills they know back home. American adventurers liked the novelty of it, even as officials at the park in California warned visitors to stay safe. A blistering California heat wave over the past week could be topped off by the hottest temperature ever recorded on Earth. That kind of extreme heat has led to more deaths than wildfires and cost billions of dollars over a decade, according to the state insurance department.
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Oil Spil in Rayong, Thailand. © Chanklang Kanthong / Greenpeace
The crude oil slick washed up on Mae Ramphueng beach in Rayong province, Thailand after it leaked from an undersea pipeline owned by Chevron’s Star Petroleum Refining Public Company Limited (SPRC). SPRC must be held accountable and liable not only for cleaning up oil pollution contamination, but also for disclosing to the public in a concise and transparent manner information on the scope of the oil spill and its negative impacts on the marine ecosystem, coastal fishing community, and tourism. Greenpeace Thailand urges the Thai government to form an independent committee to investigate the oil pollution disaster, to urgently review the National Energy Plan in order to break free from fossil fuels, and to halt plans to expand oil and fossil gas industry, which endangers livelihoods, the natural environment, and communities who bear the brunt of environmental impacts and climate crises.
© Chanklang Kanthong / Greenpeace
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Polar Bears Wait for Winter Migration. © Robert Visser / Greenpeace
A polar bear with two juveniles near Churchill, Manitoba. A report by Ian Sterling with the Canadian Wildlife Service links a decline in the weight of adult polar bears in the western Hudson Bay area to global warming. © Robert Visser / Greenpeace
The Arctic

Extreme weather and climate research

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