CLIMATE CHANGE

Study Finds -  Imagine that your city experiences its worst drought in decades, only to be suddenly inundated by record-breaking rainfall weeks later. This dramatic swing between weather extremes, known as “hydroclimate whiplash,” is becoming increasingly common worldwide – and new research suggests it’s getting worse due to climate change.

Published in Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, the report reveals that these rapid transitions between very wet and very dry conditions have increased by 31-66% globally at seasonal timescales since the mid-twentieth century. Even more concerning, with continued warming, these weather whiplashes are projected to increase by a staggering 113% over land areas if global temperatures rise by 3°C.

Los Angeles provides a timely example of this phenomenon. After experiencing two extremely wet winters that produced abundant grass and brush growth, 2024 brought a record-hot summer followed by an extraordinarily dry start to the 2025 rainy season. The result? Tinder-dry vegetation that has fueled a series of devastating wildfires.

“The evidence shows that hydroclimate whiplash has already increased due to global warming, and further warming will bring about even larger increases,” says lead author Daniel Swain, a climate scientist with UCLA and UC Agriculture and Natural Resources, in a statement. “This whiplash sequence in California has increased fire risk twofold: first, by greatly increasing the growth of flammable grass and brush in the months leading up to fire season, and then by drying it out to exceptionally high levels with the extreme dryness and warmth that followed.”