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SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: This study examines the impact of rising temperatures on home run frequencies in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). Building on previous research from Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States, we found that higher temperatures correlate with more home runs, but only in outdoor stadiums, which supports the idea that temperature affects ball flight by reducing air density. Our findings are consistent over different time periods and suggest that climate change could increase home run numbers. However, no clear trend of more home runs due to recent warming was observed. Further research is needed to understand the factors affecting this phenomenon in different stadiums. This work underscores the broader impacts of climate change on various aspects of society, including sports. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As climate change continues to accelerate, there is a growing need for collaboration between geoscientists and community partners to cocreate equitable science-based climate solutions that align with community priorities. However, the curriculum of many geoscience Ph.D. programs focuses almost exclusively on physical science knowledge production confined to the academic sphere with little attention to usability or applications of climate information to decision-making. A consequence is that there is often little educational support to train future generations of geoscientists with the skills needed to serve as knowledge brokers and interpret climate information into the context needed for decision-making. To address this, a group of students and faculty at the University of Michigan developed a pilot course to provide hands-on experience engaging with local communities to develop climate solutions. This project involved a collaboration with the Washtenaw County Water Resources Commissioner's Office to discuss their high-priority objectives. The inaugural project involved identifying high-priority locations in Washtenaw County for rain garden development to be used for internal planning purposes. The process of recurring communications with partners played a critical role in tailoring the project to have ongoing use for local government after the course. This project provided a student-driven bridge between climate knowledge production, climate science usability, and community engagement. This type of formal engagement with community partners provides opportunities to train the next generation of geoscientists to have the skills to engage with practitioners and decision-makers and make climate science more accessible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

College engineering education prioritizes technical knowledge and skills, but there is growing recognition that it must also address the social and societal implications of engineering work. Beyond professional ethics, engineers need to develop broader understandings of how engineering and technology interact with and impact individuals and communities. This study focuses on the development of engineering students' 'technoskeptical' ways of thinking, defined as their ability to think about technologies as more than neutral tools and analyze their complex interactions with sociotechnical systems and values. Students in the study were incoming first-year engineering students who participated in a four-week summer bridge program. The program included a course called 'engineering design for humans and the environment,' which foregrounded sociotechnical issues and was designed to promote technoskeptical thinking. To assess students' uptake of technoskepticism, they completed a pre and post task on which they analyzed the unintended effects of outdoor street lighting. Although students engaged in similar technoskeptical inquiries during the design course, this study found that students tended not to transfer those emergent skills to the street lighting task. The results indicate a need to expand instructional efforts so that students more fully internalize technoskeptical practices and apply them to novel situations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is growing interest in impact-based decision support services to address complex decision-making, especially for winter storm forecasting. Understanding users' needs for winter storm forecast information is necessary to make such impact-based winter forecasts relevant and useful to the diverse regions affected. A mixed-method social science research study investigated extending the winter storm severity index (WSSI) [operational for the contiguous United States (CONUS)] to Alaska, with consideration of the distinct needs of Alaskan stakeholders and the Alaskan climate. Data availability differences suggest the need for an Alaska-specific WSSI, calling for user feedback to inform the direction of product modifications. Focus groups and surveys in six regions of Alaska provided information on how the WSSI components, definitions, and categorization of impacts could align with stakeholder expectations and led to recommendations for the Weather Prediction Center to consider in developing the WSSI Alaska product. Overall, wind (strength and direction) and precipitation are key components to include. Air travel is a critical concern requiring wind and visibility information, while road travel is less emphasized (contrasting with CONUS needs). Special Weather Statements and Winter Storm Warnings are highly valued, and storm trajectory and transition (between precipitation types) information are the important contexts for decision-makers. Alaska is accustomed to and prepared for winter impacts but being able to understand how components (wind, snow, and ice) contribute to overall impact enhances the ability to respond and mitigate damage effectively. The WSSI adapted for Alaska can help address regional forecast needs, particularly valuable as the climate changes and typical winter conditions become more variable. Significance Statement: Impact-based support services can assist decision-makers in prioritizing preparedness and mitigation actions related to winter storm events. The winter storm severity index adapted for specific considerations in Alaska (such as including wind and visibility components) can extend winter weather impact-based forecasting's utility. Additionally, lessons learned from the process of adapting a national product to specific regional needs may inform best practices for gathering stakeholder input and feedback. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The polar regions are facing a wide range of compounding challenges, from climate change to increased human activity. Infrastructure, rescue services, and disaster response capabilities are limited in these remote environments. Relevant and usable weather, water, ice, and climate (WWIC) information is vital for safety, activity success, adaptation, and environmental protection. This has been a key focus for the World Meteorological Organization's (WMO) Polar Prediction Project (PPP), and in particular its "Societal and Economic Research and Applications" (PPP-SERA) Task Team, which together over a decade have sought to understand polar WWIC information use in relation to operational needs, constraints, and decision contexts to inform the development of relevant services. To understand research progress and gaps on WWIC information use during the PPP (2013–23), we undertook a systematic bibliometric review of aligned scholarly peer-reviewed journal articles (n = 43), examining collaborations, topics, methods, and regional differences. Themes to emerge included activity and context, human factors, information needs, situational awareness, experience, local and Indigenous knowledge, and sharing of information. We observed an uneven representation of disciplinary backgrounds, geographic locations, research topics, and sectoral foci. Our review signifies an overall lack of Antarctic WWIC services research and a dominant focus on Arctic sea ice operations and risks. We noted with concern a mismatch between user needs and services provided. Our findings can help to improve WWIC services' dissemination, communication effectiveness, and actionable knowledge provision for users and guide future research as the critical need for salient weather services across the polar regions remains beyond the PPP. Significance Statement: Every day, people in the Arctic and Antarctic use weather, water, ice, and climate information to plan and carry out outdoor activities and operations in a safe way. Despite advances in numerical weather prediction, technology, and product development, barriers to accessing and effectively communicating high-quality usable observations, forecasts, and actionable knowledge remain. Poorer services, prediction accuracy, and interpretation are exacerbated by a lack of integrated social science research on relevant topics and a mismatch between the services provided and user needs. As a result, continued user engagement, research focusing on information use, risk communication, decision-making processes, and the application of science for services remain highly relevant to reducing risks and improving safety for people living, visiting, and working in the polar regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate and weather-related disasters in California illustrate the need for immediate climate change action—both mitigation to reduce impacts and adaptation to protect our communities, relatives, and the ecosystems we depend upon. Indigenous frontline communities face even greater threats from climate impacts due to historical and political legacies of environmental injustice. Climate change adaptation actions have proven challenging to implement as communities struggle to access necessary climate data at appropriate scales, identify effective strategies that address community priorities, and obtain resources to act at a whole-community level. In this paper, we present three examples of Indigenous communities in California that have used a climate justice approach to climate change adaptation. These communities are drawing upon community knowledge and expertise to address the challenges of adaptation planning and taking actions that center community priorities. The three cases address emergency preparation and response, cultural burning and fire management, and community organizing and social cohesion. Across these spheres, they illustrate the ways in which a community-based and climate justice-focused approach to adaptation can be effective in addressing current threats while also addressing the legacy of imposed, socially constructed vulnerability and environmental injustices. Because we recognize the need for multiple knowledges and skills in adaptation actions, we include recommendations that have emerged based on what has been learned through these long-standing and engaged participatory research collaborations for climate scientists who wish to contribute to climate justice-focused adaptation efforts by using scientific data to support—not supplant—community efforts, target funding toward genuine community engagement and adaptation actions, and become aware of the historical and political legacies that created the climate vulnerabilities and injustices evident today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although many people believe their pain fluctuates with weather conditions, both weather and pain may be associated with time spent outside. For example, pleasant weather may mean that people spend more time outside doing physical activity and are exposed to the weather, leading to more (or less) pain, and poor weather or severe pain may keep people inside, sedentary, and not exposed to the weather. We conducted a smartphone study where participants with chronic pain reported daily pain severity, as well as time spent outside. We address the relationship between four weather variables (temperature, dewpoint temperature, pressure, and wind speed) and pain by proposing a three-step approach to untangle their effects: (i) propose a set of plausible directed acyclic graphs (DAGs) that account for potential roles of time spent outside (e.g., collider, effect modifier, mediator); (ii) analyze the compatibility of the observed data with the assumed model; and (iii) identify the most plausible model by combining evidence from the observed data and domain-specific knowledge. We found that the data do not support time spent outside as a collider or mediator of the relationship between weather variables and pain. On the other hand, time spent outside modifies the effect between temperature and pain, as well as wind speed and pain, with the effect being absent on days that participants spent inside and present if they spent some or all of the day outside. Our results show the utility of using directed acyclic graphs for studying causal inference. Significance Statement: Three-quarters of people living with chronic pain believe that weather influences their pain. However, people staying inside would not be exposed to the weather outside, and good weather may mean that people are more active outside, leading to more or less pain. To obtain data to calculate how the amount of time spent outside affects the weather–pain relationship, we conducted a 15-month smartphone study collecting daily pain reports and nearby weather for nearly 5000 participants in the United Kingdom. We found that time spent outside modifies the relationship between temperature/wind speed and pain, showing the importance of accounting for other factors when investigating the association between weather and chronic pain, which could guide future research into pain mitigation and management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors describe a tropical cyclone risk model for the Philippines using open-source methods that can be straightforwardly generalized to other countries. Wind fields derived from historical observations, as well as those from an environmentally forced tropical cyclone hazard model, are combined with data representing exposed value and vulnerability to determine asset losses. Exposed value is represented by the LitPop dataset, which assumes total asset value is distributed across a country following population density and night-lights data. Vulnerability is assumed to follow a functional form previously proposed by Emanuel, with free parameters chosen by a sensitivity analysis in which simulated and historical reported damages are compared for different parameter values and further constrained by information from household surveys about regional building characteristics. Use of different vulnerability parameters for the region around Manila, Philippines, yields much better agreement between simulated and actually reported losses than does a single set of parameters for the entire country. Despite the improvements from regionally refined vulnerability, the model predicts no losses for a substantial number of destructive historical storms, a difference the authors hypothesize is due to the use of wind speed as the sole metric of tropical cyclone hazard, omitting explicit representation of storm surge and/or rainfall. Bearing these limitations in mind, this model can be used to estimate return levels for tropical cyclone-caused wind hazards and asset losses for regions across the Philippines, relevant to some disaster risk reduction and management tasks; this model also provides a platform for further development of open-source tropical cyclone risk modeling.

This paper develops the concept of flood problem framing to understand decision-makers’ priorities in flood risk management in the Los Angeles Metropolitan Region in California (LA Metro). Problem frames shape an individual’s preferences for particular management strategies and their future behaviors. While flooding is a complex, multifaceted problem, with multiple causes and multiple impacts, a decision-maker is most likely to manage only those dimensions of flooding about which they are aware or concerned. To evaluate flood decision-makers’ primary concerns related to flood exposure, vulnerability, and management in the LA Metro, we draw on focus groups with flood control districts, city planners, nonprofit organizations, and other flood-related decision-makers. We identify numerous concerns, including concerns about specific types of floods (e.g., fluvial vs pluvial) and impacts to diverse infrastructure and communities. Our analyses demonstrate that flood concerns aggregate into three problem frames: one concerned with large fluvial floods exacerbated by climate change and their housing, economic, and infrastructure impacts; one concerned with pluvial nuisance flooding, pollution, and historic underinvestment in communities; and one concerned with coastal and fluvial flooding’s ecosystem impacts. While each individual typically articulated concerns that overlapped with only one problem frame, each problem frame was discussed by numerous organization types, suggesting low barriers to cross-organizational coordination in flood planning and response. This paper also advances our understanding of flood risk perception in a region that does not face frequent large floods.

Compared to academic impacts (e.g., the citation advancement) brought by Open Access (OA), societal impacts of scientific studies have not been well elaborated in prior studies. In this article, we explore different OA routes (i.e., gold OA, hybrid OA, and bronze OA) and their varying effects on multiple types of societal impacts (i.e., social media and web) by using the case of four biological journals founded by the Royal Society. The results show that (1) gold OA is significantly and positively related to social media indicators (Twitter counts and Facebook counts), but significantly and negatively associated with web indicators (Blog counts and News counts); (2) hybrid OA has a significant and positive effect on both social media and web indicators; and (3) bronze OA is significantly and positively associated with social media indicators, but it turns to be negative albeit nonsignificant for web indicators. The findings suggest that OA policies could increase the societal impact on the public by varying degrees. Specifically, OA policies could amplify the societal impacts of research articles on social media, but the effects are inconsistent for societal impacts on the web. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The environmental and societal challenges of our contemporary society are leading us to reconsider our approaches to vehicle design. The aim of this article is to provide the reader with the essential knowledge needed to responsibly design a vehicle equipped with a hydrogen fuel cell system. Two pivotal aspects of hydrogen-electric powertrain eco-design are examined. First, the global warming potential is assessed for both PEMFC systems and Type IV hydrogen tanks, accounting for material extraction, production, and end-of-life considerations. The usage phase was omitted from the study in order to facilitate data adaptation for each type of use. PEMFC exhibits a global warming potential of about 29.2 kgCO 2eq /kW, while the tank records 12.4 kgCO 2eq /kWh, with transportation factors considered. Secondly, the societal and governmental impacts are scrutinized, with the carbon-intensive hydrogen tank emerging as having the most significant societal and governmental risks. In fact, on a scale of 1–5, with 5 representing the highest level of risk, the PEMFC system has a societal impact and governance risk of 2.98. The Type IV tank has a societal impact and governance risk of 3.31. Although uncertainties persist regarding the results presented in this study, the values obtained provide an overview of the societal and governmental impacts of the hydrogen ecosystem in the transportation sector. The next step will be to compare, for the same usage, which solution between hydrogen-electric and 100% battery is more respectful of humans and the environment. • Platinum accounts for less than 0.01% of the mass in a fuel cell system. • A type IV hydrogen tank mass consists of over two-thirds carbon fiber one. • The societal impact of the tank is higher than that of the fuel cell system. • The global warming potential of the tank exceeds that of the fuel cell system. • Assessing societal impacts and governance risks involves inherent uncertainties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extreme heat contributes to 8000-12 000 excess U.S. deaths per year. Partly due to increasing summer temperatures and a renewed focus on environmental justice, local governments started new initiatives to manage and adapt to extreme heat. For example, Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States, appointed Jane Gilbert as the world's first Chief Heat Officer. This manuscript summarizes Miami-Dade County's preliminary efforts to build local evidence, engage the community, and rapidly respond to extreme heat. The manuscript's goal is to expedite the translation of existing tools into mainstream extreme heat, health, and equity planning. The study generated local evidence to identify the places and periods of time with elevated heat-related illness using a statistical vulnerability and time series analysis, respectively. The places with the highest severe heat-related illness rates had hotter land surface temperatures and/or higher proportions of people who were outdoor workers, Indigenous, living in poverty or mobile homes, and households with children. "Everyday" summer conditions instead of rare heatwaves increase the risk of a heat-related death. The Chief Heat Officer convened workshops that engaged 298 unique community members on six cross-sectoral heat topics. Key recommendations included increasing multisectoral heat monitoring and risk communication, building more affordable housing, preserving and expanding greenspace, and creating heat resilience hubs. The activities culminated in a Heat Action Plan, which was completed in less than two years from the receipt of project funding. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: Extreme heat is a contributing factor to more U.S. deaths per year than any other weather hazard. This manuscript summarizes the world's first Chief Heat Officer's efforts to build local heat and health evidence. The places with the highest heat-related illness rates had hotter surface temperatures and/or higher proportions of people who were outdoor workers, Indigenous, and living in poverty or mobile homes. On hot and humid days, 7.8% (603 deaths) of the summer deaths per year were associated with the concurrent and preceding day's heat exposures. In response, Miami-Dade County is targeting heat interventions, lowering heat advisory thresholds, and considering new heat safety laws. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The success of the first Metrocable line in Medellín (2004) as a feeder for the Metro system served as a turning point in considering the use of aerial cable cars (ACC) as a mode of public transport in urban settlements. In the following years, 33 ACC transit lines were inaugurated in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), the majority after 2010. This review has several aims: (i) to understand the differences in aerial cableway transit (ACT) technologies; (ii) to describe the characteristics of the ACC service area for the most critical case studies in LAC and identify their role in the public transport system; and (iii) to find the essential societal benefits presented by ACC. We will follow two complementary approaches. First, the review concentrates on the most recent technological advances. Second, 24 reports were obtained from scientific databases, complemented by another 18 found using the "snowball" method. Our findings show that detachable gondolas, called aerial cable cars in the transport literature, are the most used technology as a transit mode. Furthermore, the ACC initially served as a feeder mode, serving low-income communities on hillside terrains. However, some cases are restructuring the public transport system and building a comprehensive network utilising the ACC. The empirical evidence shows that complementary projects are essential to impact less-frequent ACC users and people in the neighbourhood. Moreover, travel time and cost reductions increase accessibility and reduce inequalities, especially in the service area. Participatory budgeting may also prompt community engagement with the project, especially among low-income residents. Considering integration between transport modes (and within transit modes) in the project's early stages will also increase ridership and users' accessibility. Future research should focus on the travel behaviour and societal impacts of ACC integrated into the structure of the public transport systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food security is a key pillar of environmental security yet remains one of the world's greatest challenges. Its obverse, food insecurity, negatively impacts health and well-being, drives mass migration, and undermines national security and global sustainable development. Ensuring food security is a delicate balance of myriad concerns within the atmospheric and Earth sciences, agronomy and agriculture engineering, social sciences, economics, monitoring, and policymaking. A Food Security Presidential Session at the American Meteorological Society's (AMS) 2022 Annual Meeting brought together experts across disciplines to tackle issues at the nexus of weather, climate, and food security. The starkest takeaway was the realization that, despite its importance and clear roles for the atmospheric and climate sciences, food security has not been a focus for the AMS community. The aim of this paper is to build on the perspectives shared by this expert panel and to identify overlapping issues and key points of intersection between the food-security community and AMS. We examine 1) the interactions between weather, climate, and the food system and how they influence food security; 2) the time and spatial scales of food security decision support that match weather and climate phenomena; 3) the role of both providers and users of information as well as decision-makers in improving research to operations for food security; and 4) the opportunities for the AMS community to address food security. We conclude that, moving forward, the AMS community is well-positioned to scale up its engagement across the global food system to address existing scientific needs and technology gaps to improve global food security. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: We examine how members of the AMS community can help ensure global food security, whether they are engaged in the physical and social sciences or the realms of policy and society. Inspired by the messages of panelists at a Presidential Forum on Food Security at the 2022 AMS Annual Meeting, we gather their perspectives and those of experts working in the various relevant fields and find that there are roles for everyone across the AMS—from providing forecasts of the hydrometeorological variables used in food security outlooks to converting data to knowledge and engaging with stakeholders and decision-makers. We make concrete suggestions to ensure the AMS and its members are fully engaged in feeding the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extratropical cyclones are a dominant feature of the midlatitudes, and often occur as storm sequences. This phenomenon is known as cyclone clustering, which is common over regions like the eastern North Atlantic and western Europe. Here, intense clustered cyclones may lead to large cumulative socioeconomic impacts. There are several different approaches to quantify cyclone clustering, but a detailed evaluation on how clustering may change in a warmer climate is missing. We perform a cyclone clustering analysis for the Northern Hemisphere midlatitudes using the ERA5 reanalysis to characterize clustering during 1980–2020. Moreover, we use large ensemble simulations of the Community Earth System Model version 2 following the SSP3-7.0 scenario to compare clustering during 2060–2100 to 1980–2020. Our model simulations show significant enhancement in cyclone clustering over Europe for 3 and 4 cyclones within 7 days in the future decades, which is increasing by up to 25% on average during 2060–2100 compared to 1980–2020. In contrast, cyclone clustering decreases along the west coast of the United States and Canada by up to 24.3% and by 10.1% in the Gulf of Alaska for the same periods. In a warmer climate, clustered cyclones have lower minimum pressure and larger radii and depths compared to nonclustered events. Our findings suggest that change in future cyclone clustering depends on regions affected by global warming, with implications for the cumulative windstorm risk. Significance Statement: Storm sequences like the one of December 1999 (Anatol, Lothar, and Martin) have led to large socioeconomic impacts in Europe. It is still unclear how such events will change under global warming. We analyze storm sequences in a reanalysis and a large climate model ensemble for recent (1980–2020) and future climate conditions (2060–2100). Our results show a significant enhancement of storm sequences over Europe for 3 and 4 storms within 7 days, while a decrease is found along the west coast of the United States, western Canada, and in the Gulf of Alaska in future decades. Our findings suggest that the characteristics of cyclone clustering may change in a warmer world, and thus also the associated impacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This editorial initiates a dialogue on transport planning within permanent space settlements. It introduces a conceptual model outlining key elements and contextual factors integral to the development and operation of transport systems in space communities. The unique constraints of space environments (e.g. cosmic radiation, gravity, atmosphere, temperature, dust and soil) require systems prioritising efficiency, safety, resilience, accessibility, and well-being beyond Earth's requirements. Collective and active modes along vertical and horizontal axes within compact settlements may be optimal due to resource constraints. Innovative energy storage and sharing systems, enhanced materials, and new maintenance protocols will likely be required for modular, adaptable pressurised tunnel or tube-based transport systems. To ensure safety and operational integrity, a rigorously managed traffic environment is anticipated, requiring a balance between demand, capacities, and service frequencies. Comfortable and joyful travel environments would be needed to alleviate stressors associated with tunnel-based travel. Governance and policies would be expected to prioritise aspects such as well-being and social equity in response to harsh space conditions and resource constraints. Future research could involve system-level, interdisciplinary and participatory futures and simulation methods to address the complexity and uncertainties inherent to transport planning in space settlements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most pressing and immediate climate concerns globally is inadequate and unsafe household water. The livelihoods of smallholder crop and livestock farmers are especially vulnerable to these challenges. Past research suggests that water insecurity is highly gendered, and women are theorized to be more aware of and impacted by water insecurity than men. Our study reengages this literature through a livelihood lens, comparing gendered perception of household water insecurity across crop and livestock subsistence modalities in a semiarid region of Burkina Faso in the Sahel region of West Africa, where water insecurity is closely intertwined with both seasonality and rainfall unpredictability. Our mixed-methods ethnographic study sampled matched men and women in households with water insecurity data collected from 158 coresident spousal pairs who engaged primarily in pastoralism or agriculture. Contrary to predictions from the existing literature, men engaged in livestock husbandry perceived greater water insecurity than matched women in the same household. We suggest this reflects men's responsibility for securing water for the animals-which consume most of the household's water among livestock farmers. In contrast, men engaged in cropping perceive less water insecurity than women in the same household, aligning with predictions from past research. Our findings suggest that the relationship between gender and water insecurity is more highly nuanced and related to livelihood strategies than previously recognized, with significant implications for how water insecurity is conceptualized theoretically and methodologically in the contexts of people's everyday management and experience of the most immediate and proximate climate-related challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent decades, changes in precipitation, temperature, and air circulation patterns have led to increases in the occurrences of extreme weather events. These events can have devastating effects on communities causing destruction to property and croplands, as well as negative impacts on public health. As changes in the climate are projected to continue throughout the remainder of the twenty-first century, the ability for a community to plan for extreme weather events is essential to its survival. In this paper, we introduce a new index for examining the potential impacts of climate extremes on community resilience throughout the conterminous United States at the county level. We use an established disaster resilience index (baseline resilience indicators for communities) together with a revised version of the U.S. climate extremes index to create a combined measure of climate resilience-the climate extremes resilience index (CERI). To demonstrate the index, we test it on the 2021 Pacific Northwest heat wave, a 1000-yr weather event made 150 times as likely by climate change. To promote the use of the index, we also introduce a Google Earth Engine web app to calculate and map the CERI for the CONUS. By developing a web application for calculating the CERI, we expand the use of climate-resilience indices beyond theoretical applications. We anticipate that this tool and the CERI could be useful for policy makers to plan for climate-related disasters, as well as help the public with understanding and visualizing the impacts of extreme climatic events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flash droughts, characterized by rapid onset and intensification, are increasingly occurring as a consequence of climate change and rising temperatures. However, existing hydrometeorological definitions fail to encompass the full range of flash droughts, many of which have distinct local physical attributes. Consequently, these events often go undetected or unforecast in generic global flash drought assessments and are underrepresented in research. To address this gap, we conducted a comprehensive survey to gather information on local nomenclature, characteristics, and impacts of flash droughts worldwide. The survey revealed the widespread occurrence of these phenomena, highlighting their underresearched nature. By analyzing case studies, through literature review often in local languages to unearth elusive studies, we identified five different types of flash droughts based on their specific characteristics. Our study aims to increase awareness about the complexity and diverse impacts of flash droughts, emphasizing the importance of considering regional contexts and the vulnerability of affected populations. The reported impacts underscore the need for better integration of all flash drought types in drought research, monitoring, and management. Monitoring a combination of indicators is crucial for timely detection and response to this emerging and escalating threat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Universities, researchers and funders are increasingly asking how research contributes to positive changes in society and the environment, and seeking ways to document and describe impacts consistently across diverse disciplines and organisational scales. The societal impacts framework presented in this pilot study uses a combination of impact goal and impact descriptor frameworks to elucidate the societal impacts of research. The framework blends elements of assessment-driven and mission-driven reporting frameworks, and was administered online to volunteers from one interdisciplinary environmental research institute. The 12 projects in the pilot study addressed 15 of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals, and all 12 projects reported impacts in two or more of six impact descriptor categories. We also identified an impact subcategory dealing with changes to higher education practice. Combining two types of impacts frameworks – societal goals and descriptors of changes – allowed us to understand how the research projects contributed to broad societal goals, not just that they addressed the goals. Responses from study participants indicated a good fit between the framework and their research efforts. However, we found that the online reporting tool, in its current form, was not effective in eliciting full and accurate reports from all participants. We reflect upon how to improve data collection in the future, as well as on opportunities for additional tests of the framework in new contexts.

Public spending on research and innovation (R&I) to tackle grand societal challenges, such as climate change, is increasing. Consequently, research funding organisations face an ever-growing demand to demonstrate the social return of their investments. However, tools and frameworks that facilitate the description and assessment of the climate impacts of R&I activities are largely lacking. The present paper addresses this gap by conducting a comparative case analysis of corporate R&I projects co-funded by a thematically open R&I funding programme with the aim of identifying the key impact pathways. Data for the cases were collected through document analysis and video interviews. The results show that assessments of the climate impacts of R&I need to take into account the expected change in technology maturity and the impacts that are caused up- and downstream in a company's value chain. The results serve as a basis for the development of a framework for the ex-ante assessment of climate impacts of public R&I programmes. A series of workshops with research funders, companies, and evaluation experts helped refine and validate the framework and ensure its real-world applicability. The framework provides proposal writers and evaluators with a pragmatic and easy-to-use orientation tool for describing and assessing the climate impacts of a planned R&I activity during the proposal evaluation stage. It therefore supports a more systematic and systemic assessment of R&I impacts that can help funding organisations better address the challenges of climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the population exposure to an increasing number of hydroclimatic extreme events owing to the warming climate. It is well agreed that the extreme events are increasing in terms of frequency as well as intensity due to climate change and that the exposure to compound extreme events (concurrent occurrence of two or more extreme phenomena) affects population, ecosystems, and a variety of socioeconomic aspects more adversely. Specifically, the compound precipitation–temperature extremes (hot-dry and hot-wet) are considered, and the entire Indian mainland is regarded as the study region that spans over a wide variety of climatic regimes and wide variation of population density. The developed copula-based statistical method evaluates the change in population exposure to the compound extremes across the past (1981–2020) and future (near future: 2021–60 and far future: 2061–2100) due to climate change. The results indicate an increase of more than 10 million person-year exposure from the compound extremes across many regions of the country, considering both near and far future periods. Densely populated regions have experienced more significant changes in hot-wet extremes as compared with the hot-dry extremes in the past, and the same is projected to continue in the future. The increase is as much as sixfold in many parts of the country, including the Indo-Gangetic Plain and southernmost coastal regions, identified as the future hotspots with the maximum increase in exposure under all the projected warming and population scenarios. The study helps to identify the regions that may need greater attention based on the risks of population exposure to compound extremes in a warmer future. Significance Statement: How is the growing population being affected now, and in the future, how will it be affected due to climate change induced compound extreme events? This study explores this societal consequence in terms of population exposure for the most populous country, India. An increase of more than 10 million person-year exposure from the precipitation–temperature compound extremes across many regions is indicated. Densely populated regions are expected to experience enhanced population exposure to hot-wet extremes as compared with the hot-dry extremes. Furthermore, the maximum increase in population exposure to compound extremes is expected across the Indo-Gangetic Plain and southern coastal regions of India. The outcome of the study will be helpful for adopting socioeconomic decisions toward the welfare of society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) in Earth's atmosphere is increasing due to human activities and the resulting effects on the global climate system have initiated several policy‐driven approaches to reduce emissions of this greenhouse gas. Quantifying the effectiveness of such policies requires both bottom‐up and top‐down approaches to estimate CO2 emissions. This work investigates, for the first time, the potential of using Snapshot Area Map observations from NASA's OCO‐3 instrument to disaggregate sector‐specific emissions from instrument observations. Optimized sector‐specific timeseries were produced using Bayesian inversion techniques and compared to proxy activity data from transportation, commercial maritime, and industrial sectors in the Los Angeles Basin. Results demonstrate that dense space‐based observations of atmospheric CO2 are capable of disentangling sector‐specific CO2 fluxes, paving the way for accurate monitoring of the effects of carbon‐reduction policies and operational carbon monitoring systems. Plain Language Summary: Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a key greenhouse gas and several local‐to‐international policies are in place to reduce the amount being emitted by human activities. This work investigates the amount of CO2 emitted within the Los Angeles Basin during the period between January 2020 and December 2021 using NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory‐3. The observed CO2 is used to assess contributions from specific sectors (on‐road transportation, industrial sources, commercial maritime activity, etc.). The results of this work demonstrate that urban CO2 emissions observed from space‐based instrumentation can be disaggregated to several socioeconomic sectors to study trends that may be present in each one. Notable detected features include the sudden reduction of on‐road CO2 emissions due to the COVID‐19 lockdown period and the steady increase in off‐shore emissions due to ship idling and delays. The effectiveness of current and future policies regarding sector‐specific reductions have the potential to be observed over time using the framework presented here. Key Points: NASA's OCO‐3 instrument provides the densest spatial coverage of urban XCO2 from space, which includes information on spatially variant surface fluxes. We show this spatial coverage makes it possible to disaggregate sectoral emissions information from observationsUsing OCO‐3 and the Los Angeles Basin as a case study, three emission sectors from an emission inventory are optimized to include effects from COVID‐19 lockdowns. In two contributing sectors, On‐road Transportation and Industry, optimized CO2 flux decreased considerably around the time COVID‐19 lockdowns were implemented in the Los Angeles area. In the third sector, Maritime Transportation, optimized CO2 flux steadily increased over timeThe timeseries of optimized fluxes followed sector‐specific proxy data [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Atmospheric science is male dominated and few students of color matriculate into the field, a trend dating back at least 50 years. UCAR/NCAR Equity and Inclusion (referred to as UNEION), which has trained nearly 200 employees, is the institution's flagship diversity program. UNEION is central to efforts to create a welcoming workplace, engaging participants with peer-led learning to gain knowledge on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) topics, and encouraging participants to implement these learnings through bystander intervention. Evaluation results show that UNEION 1) increases participants' awareness of inequities, 2) encourages participants to feel responsible for DEI, and 3) teaches participants how to intervene in inappropriate situations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research efforts from the last several decades to the present have aimed to better understand when and where derechos occur across the United States and other parts of the world, and what impacts derechos have on society. While the scientific community agrees that derechos are widespread wind storms associated with extratropical mesoscale convective systems, varying quantitative thresholds of what constitutes a derecho exist among peer-reviewed journal articles, introducing ambiguity throughout the literature of what is classified as a derecho, and where derechos most frequently occur. The scientific community would benefit from a summary on the more crucial aspects of derechos and where ambiguities or inconsistencies exist in the literature. Part I of this derecho historical overview discusses the history of derecho identification, and how differences in derecho identification strategies affect our understanding of their spatial climatology across the United States and Europe. Impacts to human life and commerce are also summarized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Common disaster-phase models provide a useful heuristic for understanding how disasters evolve, but they do not adequately characterize the transitions between phases, such as the forecast and warning phase of predictable disasters. In this study, we use tweets posted by professional sources of meteorological information in Florida during Hurricane Irma (2017) to understand how visual risk communication evolves during this transition. We identify four subphases of the forecast and warning phase: the hypothetical threat, actualized threat, looming threat, and impact subphases. Each subphase is denoted by changes in the kinds of visual risk information disseminated by professional sources and retransmitted by the public, which are often driven by new information provided by the U.S. National Weather Service. In addition, we use regression analysis to understand the impact of tweet timing, content, risk visualization and other factors on tweet retransmission across Irma's forecast and warning phase. We find that cone, satellite, and spaghetti-plot image types are retweeted more, while watch/warning imagery is retweeted less. In addition, manually generated tweets are retweeted more than automated tweets. These results highlight several information needs to incorporate into the current NWS hurricane forecast visualization suite, such as uncertainty and hazard-specific information at longer lead times, and the importance of investigating the effectiveness of different social media posting strategies. Our results also demonstrate the roles and responsibilities that professional sources engage in during these subphases, which builds understanding of disasters by contextualizing the subphases along the transition from long-term preparedness to postevent response and recovery. Significance Statement: Visual information is an important tool for communicating about evolving tropical cyclone threats. In this study, we investigate the kinds of visualizations posted by professional weather communicators on Twitter during Hurricane Irma (2017) to understand how visual information shifts over time and whether different visuals are more retweeted. We find that visual information shifts substantially in the days before Irma's impacts, and these shifts are often driven by changes in Irma's strength or forecast track. Our results show that cone, satellite, and spaghetti-plot visualizations are retweeted more frequently, while watch/warning imagery is retweeted less. These results help us to understand how visual information evolves during predictable disasters, and they suggest ways that visual communication can be improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heat communication interventions are an essential way that public safety organizations can reduce extreme heat consequences for at-risk groups. Although the aim of these interventions is typically behavior change, these organizations commonly assume that providing information about heat risks, impacts, vulnerable populations, and protective actions will lead individuals to protect themselves. However, behavior change is a complex process whereby messages must be crafted in ways that increase their persuasive effects. To examine the extent to which key assumptions about behavior change are present in public safety organizations' heat communication interventions, we examine 250 heat-related tweets sent by seven National Weather Service (NWS) weather forecast offices (WFOs) in 2021. We find that these NWS WFOs use technical language or "jargon" to communicate about heat risks and impacts. In addition, we find that information about vulnerable populations and protective actions is not presented in a way that conforms to theory on behavior change. Based on these results, we offer recommendations to increase the persuasiveness of NWS WFO communication interventions that encourage the public to protect themselves during extreme heat events. Significance Statement: Heat is the leading cause of death among all weather-related hazards. How heat is communicated to the public can help mitigate heat-related morbidity and mortality. However, heat communication interventions are often developed with several embedded assumptions about behavior change that negatively impact their effectiveness. By examining how a key public safety organization communicates about heat on social media, and the extent to which these assumptions are present, we offer recommendations to increase the persuasiveness of NWS heat communication on social media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Broadcast meteorologists are essential in the communication of National Weather Service (NWS) warnings to the public. Therefore, it is imperative to include them in a user-centered approach for the design and implementation of new warning products. Forecasting a Continuum of Environmental Threats (FACETs) will modernize the way meteorologists forecast and communicate NWS warning information to the general public using rapidly updating probabilistic hazard information (PHI). Storm-scale PHI consists of probabilistic forecasts for severe wind/hail, tornadoes, and lightning hazards. Hence, NWS warnings would have the capacity to be supplemented by a quantitative or qualitative likelihood of hazard occurrence. The researchers conducting this study wanted to know what broadcast meteorologists thought about the inclusion of this likelihood information and how it could impact their decision-making and communication process. Using a nationwide survey, this team of researchers first asked broadcast meteorologists about their current practices for severe weather coverage using NWS watches and warnings. Next, broadcast meteorologists were introduced to multiple iterations of PHI prototypes and queried for their input. Findings indicated that broadcast meteorologists already face a complex decision-making and communication process under today's warning paradigm. In addition, respondents were split on whether to explicitly communicate probabilities with their viewers. Respondents' choices were also somewhat inconclusive regarding nomenclature, definitions of PHI and representations of PHI with warning polygons. These results suggest that PHI should feature user-driven, customizable options to fulfill broadcast meteorologists' needs and that the iterative nature of the research-and-development process of PHI should continue. Significance Statement: Broadcast meteorologists are vital communicators of dangerous weather to the public, leading researchers to study them more closely. Using a nationwide survey, this team of researchers wanted to know how broadcast meteorologists talk about tornadoes, large hail, and high winds to their viewers under today's system of National Weather Service warnings. Survey findings indicated that broadcast meteorologists face a complex decision-making process when communicating dangerous weather. Any effort to modernize the current warning system, such as including hazard probability, should consider this complex process. Modernization should complement the role of broadcast meteorologists to ultimately serve the public and user-driven options should be a key component of any probabilistic information that is included in a future National Weather Service warning system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Arctic communities are experienced with severe weather, but impacts can still be serious, particularly when the intensity or persistence of hazardous conditions is extreme. Such was the case for the community of Clyde River (Kangiqtugaapik), Nunavut, Canada, which experienced 33 blizzard days during winter 2021/22—likely the most at Clyde River since at least 1978/79. Blizzard conditions resulted from unusually frequent high winds rather than excessive snowfall. The most severe stretch included eight blizzard days over an 11-day period, with top wind gusts of 98 km h−1. Winds caused severe drifting, covering homes and blocking streets. Broken heavy equipment, including snow-clearing machines, compounded the impacts, leaving homes without essential services like water delivery and sewage pump-out for days. Residents reported the storms and resulting impacts as some of the worst in memory. The drifting and volume of snow, combined with the lack of available resources to manage it, obliged the community to declare a state of emergency. Projections of increased Arctic precipitation and extreme weather events points to the need for communities to have proper resources and supports, including preparedness and adaptation and mitigation strategies, so they can be better equipped to handle storm and blizzard impacts such as those experienced at Clyde River in the winter of 2021/22. Additional steps that can be implemented to better support and prepare communities include investing in preparedness planning, expanded and enhanced weather information and services, community land-based programming to transfer Inuit knowledge and skills, assessing the usefulness of current forecasts, and new approaches to community planning. Significance Statement: In this study, we consider the winter of 2021/22, during which the community of Clyde River (Kangiqtugaapik), Nunavut experienced 33 days with blizzard conditions—more than any other year since at least 1978/79. Blizzards are characterized by strong winds and blowing snow. Low visibility impedes travel, and drifting snow blocks roads and can bury equipment and buildings. In this case, broken snow-clearing equipment and other infrastructure challenges also hampered the community's ability to respond, and residents went days without essential services. Several studies suggest that extreme winds will become more common in the Baffin Bay region in the future. This study demonstrates the need for proper resourcing of communities for preparedness, response, and adaptation strategies, especially with the possibility of extreme winter weather becoming more common. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although decision-making in response to tornado warnings is well researched, most studies do not examine whether individual responses to these warnings vary across different geographical locations and demographic groups. This gap is addressed by using data from a decision experiment that places participants virtually in a simulated tornado warning and asks them to minimize the costs of their decisions. The authors examine the following: 1) what demographic attributes may contribute to choices to minimize costs to protect assets at a specific location in a tornado warning, 2) whether there is a spatial component to how these attributes influence decision-making, and 3) if there are specific U.S. regions where individuals do not make protective decisions that minimize their overall cost. Multilevel regression analysis and poststratification are applied to data from the simulated decision experiment to estimate which demographic attributes and National Weather Service County Warning Areas are most associated with the costliest protective decisions. The results are then analyzed using spatial autocorrelation to identify spatial patterns. Results indicate that sex, race, and ethnicity are important factors that influence protection decisions. Findings also show that people across the southern portions of the United States tend to make more costly protective decisions, as defined in this work. Significance Statement: Tornadoes, although rare, threaten both life and property. Studies have shown that certain demographic groups are more negatively impacted by disasters than others and are at higher risk of severe weather hazards. We ask if there are demographic characteristics or geographic locations in common among people who are more prone to making protection decisions during tornado warnings to minimize economic costs. Results can help warning providers, such as the National Weather Service, direct resources and education to specific types of decision-makers or locations to improve sheltering decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developing decision-relevant science for adaptation requires the identification of climatic parameters that are both actionable for practitioners as well as tractable for modelers. In many sectors, these decision-relevant climatic metrics and the approaches that enable their identification remain largely unknown. “Co-production” of science with scientists and decision-makers is one potential way to identify these metrics, but there is little research describing specific and successful co-production approaches. This paper examines the negotiations and outcomes from Project Hyperion, wherein scientists and water managers jointly developed decision-relevant climatic metrics for adaptive water management. We identify successful co-production strategies by analyzing the project's numerous back-and-forth engagements and tracing the evolution of the science during these engagements. We found that effective mediation between scientists and managers needed dedicated “boundary spanners” with significant modeling expertise. Translating practitioners' information needs into tractable climatic metrics required direct and indirect methods of eliciting knowledge. We identified four indirect methods that were particularly salient for extracting tacitly held knowledge and enabling shared learning: developing a hierarchical framework linking management issues with metrics, starting discussions from the planning challenges, collaboratively exploring the planning relevance of new scientific capabilities, and using analogies of other “good” metrics. The decision-relevant metrics we developed provide insights into advancing adaptation-relevant climate science in the water sector. The co-production strategies we identified can be used to design and implement productive scientist-decision-maker interactions. Overall, the approaches and metrics we developed can help climate science to expand in new and more use-inspired directions.

Atmospheric rivers (ARs) are critical to the hydrological cycle of the western United States with both favorable and formidable impacts to society based on their landfalling characteristics. In this study, we provide a first-of-its-kind evaluation of how landfalling ARs may respond to several stabilized warming scenarios. To do this we combine a recently developed AR detection workflow with an ensemble of uniform high-resolution (0.25°) Community Earth System Model simulations designed to facilitate detection and attribution of extreme events with global warming. These simulations include a world that might have been in the absence of anthropogenic warming (+0◦C), a world that corresponds to present day warming (+0.85◦C), and several future worlds corresponding to +1.5◦C, +2◦C and +3◦C global warming. We show that warming increases the number of water management relevant landfalling ARs from 19.1 ARs per year at +0◦C to 23.6 ARs per year at +3◦C. Additionally, this warming intensifies the amount of water transported by landfalling ARs resulting in a decrease in the fraction of ARs that are “mostly to primarily beneficial” to water resource management (i.e., 91% of ARs at +0◦C to 78% at +3◦C) and an increase in the fraction of ARs that are “mostly or primarily hazardous” to water resource management (i.e., 2% of ARs at +0◦C to 8% at +3◦C). Shifts in AR character also have important ramifications on flood damages, whereby for every +1◦C of additional warming from present conditions annual average flood damages increase by ~$1 billion. These findings highlight the pragmatic implications of climate mitigation aimed at limiting global warming to under +2◦C.

Atmospheric rivers (ARs) are critical to the hydrological cycle of the western United States with both favorable and formidable impacts to society based on their landfalling characteristics. In this study, we provide a first-of-its-kind evaluation of how landfalling ARs may respond to several stabilized warming scenarios. To do this we combine a recently developed AR detection workflow with an ensemble of uniform high-resolution (0.25°) Community Earth System Model simulations designed to facilitate detection and attribution of extreme events with global warming. These simulations include a world that might have been in the absence of anthropogenic warming (+0◦C), a world that corresponds to present day warming (+0.85◦C), and several future worlds corresponding to +1.5◦C, +2◦C and +3◦C global warming. We show that warming increases the number of water management relevant landfalling ARs from 19.1 ARs per year at +0◦C to 23.6 ARs per year at +3◦C. Additionally, this warming intensifies the amount of water transported by landfalling ARs resulting in a decrease in the fraction of ARs that are “mostly to primarily beneficial” to water resource management (i.e., 91% of ARs at +0◦C to 78% at +3◦C) and an increase in the fraction of ARs that are “mostly or primarily hazardous” to water resource management (i.e., 2% of ARs at +0◦C to 8% at +3◦C). Shifts in AR character also have important ramifications on flood damages, whereby for every +1◦C of additional warming from present conditions annual average flood damages increase by ~$1 billion. These findings highlight the pragmatic implications of climate mitigation aimed at limiting global warming to under +2◦C.

Abstract The concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) in Earth's atmosphere is increasing due to human activities and the resulting effects on the global climate system have initiated several policy‐driven approaches to reduce emissions of this greenhouse gas. Quantifying the effectiveness of such policies requires both bottom‐up and top‐down approaches to estimate CO2 emissions. This work investigates, for the first time, the potential of using Snapshot Area Map observations from NASA's OCO‐3 instrument to disaggregate sector‐specific emissions from instrument observations. Optimized sector‐specific timeseries were produced using Bayesian inversion techniques and compared to proxy activity data from transportation, commercial maritime, and industrial sectors in the Los Angeles Basin. Results demonstrate that dense space‐based observations of atmospheric CO2 are capable of disentangling sector‐specific CO2 fluxes, paving the way for accurate monitoring of the effects of carbon‐reduction policies and operational carbon monitoring systems.

The geosciences have the lowest racial and ethnic diversity of all STEM fields at all levels of higher education, and atmospheric science is emblematic of this discrepancy. Despite a growing awareness of the problem, Black, Indigenous, people of color, persons with disabilities, women, and LGBTQIA+ persons continue to be largely absent in academic programs and in the geoscience workforce. There is a desire and need for new approaches, new entry points, and higher levels of engagement to foster a diverse community of researchers, scholars, and practitioners in atmospheric science. One challenge among many is that diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts are often siloed from many aspects of the scientific process, technical training, and scientific community. We have worked toward bridging this gap through the development of a new atmospheric science course designed to break down traditional barriers for entry into diversity, equity, and inclusion engagement by graduate students, so they emerge better prepared to address issues of participation, representation, and inclusion. This article provides an overview of our new course, focused on social responsibility in atmospheric science. This course was piloted during Fall 2021 with the primary objective to educate and empower graduate students to be "diversity champions" in our field. We describe 1) the rationale for a course of this nature within a graduate program, 2) course design and content, 3) service-learning projects, 4) impact of the course on students, and 5) scalability to other atmospheric science graduate programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wintertime extremes such as cold spells and heavy precipitation can have severe socioeconomic impacts, disrupting critical infrastructures and affecting human well-being. Here, we relate the occurrence of local and concurrent cold or wet wintertime extremes in North America and Europe to a recurrent, quasi-hemispheric wave-4 Rossby wave pattern. We identify this pattern as a fundamental mode of the Northern Hemisphere (NH) winter circulation, since wave 4 exhibits phase-locking behavior. Thus, the associated atmospheric circulation and surface anomalies reoccur over the same locations when the pattern's wave amplitude is high. The wave pattern is most pronounced over the pan-Atlantic region, and increases the probability of extreme cold or wet events by up to 300% in certain areas of North America and Europe, as well as favoring their concurrence at different locations. High-amplitude wave-4 events have increased significantly in frequency over the past four decades (1979-2021), although no clear evidence is found relating this to modes or patterns of climate variability. The identified wave pattern may provide pathways for early prediction of local and concurrent cold or wet wintertime extremes in North America and Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, numerous peer-reviewed scientific journal articles were published quickly to understand how weather conditions might influence the spread of COVID-19. Unfortunately, many of these articles contained weaknesses or flaws that affected the reliability and accuracy of their results. One flaw in particular meant that weather on the day when the COVID-19 case was reported was used rather than weather on the day the infection occurred. Although science can correct itself through various means, we found that these flaws were usually not identified nor corrected. Our study hopes to shed light on the problems with these articles and offer recommendations for publishing such research so that these problems are not repeated during future pandemics. Numerous studies were published quickly in 2020 and 2021 to understand the effect of weather variables on the spread of COVID-19. We examined 289 peer-reviewed empirical publications, focusing on their characteristics and a critical analysis of their quality. Of the 289 publications, 280 (97%) reported an association between one or more weather variables and the transmission of COVID-19. Of those 289 publications, 109 publications (38%) did not consider any time lag between suspected infections and reporting of the COVID-19 cases, meaning that they examined the weather on the day when the COVID-19 case was reported, rather than the day when the infection occurred. The publications used data from as few as 7 days, with an average of 123 days. Most of these data were collected early in the pandemic when the temperatures were rising as the seasons transitioned from winter to summer in the Northern Hemisphere, making it difficult to determine the subtle effects of the weather on spread. Furthermore, the average time between submission and acceptance was 85 days, but the 10 most-cited publications—all in Science of the Total Environment—were accepted within 10 days of submission, with three accepted on the submission date. Twenty-four review articles were published in 2020 and 2021, with few providing critical reflection on strengths and weaknesses of the literature. Our analysis revealed errors in the publications that were not identified or rectified by corrigenda, comment–reply exchanges, or retractions. This article concludes with recommendations on publishing during future pandemics, as well as best practices for publishing research on weather and COVID-19 transmission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many factors shape public perceptions of extreme weather risk; understanding these factors is important to encourage preparedness. This article describes a novel workshop designed to encourage individual and community decision-making about predicted storm surge flooding. Over 160 U.S. college students participated in this 4-h experience. Distinctive features included 1) two kinds of visualizations, standard weather forecasting graphics versus 3D computer graphics visualization; 2) narrative about a fictitious storm, role-play, and guided discussion of participants' concerns; and 3) use of an "ethical matrix," a collective decision-making tool that elicits diverse perspectives based on the lived experiences of diverse stakeholders. Participants experienced a narrative about a hurricane with potential for devastating storm surge flooding on a fictitious coastal college campus. They answered survey questions before, at key points during, and after the narrative, interspersed with forecasts leading to predicted storm landfall. During facilitated breakout groups, participants role-played characters and filled out an ethical matrix. Discussing the matrix encouraged consideration of circumstances impacting evacuation decisions. Participants' comments suggest several components may have influenced perceptions of personal risk, risks to others, the importance of monitoring weather, and preparing for emergencies. Surprisingly, no differences between the standard forecast graphics versus the immersive, hyperlocal visualizations were detected. Overall, participants' comments indicate the workshop increased appreciation of others' evacuation and preparation challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2021, people of Hispanic and Latinx origin made up 6% of the atmospheric and Earth sciences workforce of the United States, yet they represent 20% of the population. Motivated by this disparity in Hispanic and Latinx representation in the atmospheric and Earth science workforce, this manuscript documents the lack of representation through existing limited demographic data. The analysis presents a clear gap in participation by Hispanic and Latinx people in academic settings, with a widening gap through each education and career stage. Several factors and challenges impacting the representation disparity include the lack of funding for and collaboration with Hispanic-serving institutions, limited opportunities due to immigration status, and limited support for international research collaborations. We highlight the need for actionable steps to address the lack of representation and provide targeted recommendations to federal funding agencies, educational institutions, faculty, and potential employers. While we wait for systemic cultural change from our scientific institutions, grassroots initiatives like those proudly led by the AMS Committee for Hispanic and Latinx Advancement will emerge to address the needs of the Hispanic and Latinx scientific and broader community. We briefly highlight some of those achievements. Lasting cultural change can only happen if our leaders are active allies in the creation of a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive future. Alongside our active allies we will continue to champion for change in our weather, water, and climate enterprise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cities around the world are experiencing the effects of climate change via increasing extreme heat worsened by urbanization. Within cities, there are disparities in extreme heat exposure that are apparent in various surface and remotely sensed observations, as well as in the health impacts. There are, however, large data gaps in our ability to quantify the heat experienced by people in their daily lives across urban areas. In this paper, we use hyperlocal observations to measure heat around Miami–Dade County, Florida. Temperature and humidity measurements were collected at sites throughout the county between 2018 and 2021 with low-cost sensors. By comparing these hyperlocal observations with a National Weather Service (NWS) site at the Miami International Airport (MIA), we show that maximum temperatures are on average 6°F (3.3°C) higher and maximum heat index values are 11°F (6.1°C) higher at sites in the county than at MIA. These measurements show that many sites frequently record a heat index above the local threshold value for heat advisory. This is in contrast with the fact that few forecast advisories are issued, and there are correspondingly few exceedances of the threshold at MIA. We use these results to motivate a discussion about the issues of this particular threshold for Miami–Dade County. We highlight the need for data that are closer to residents' lived experience to assess the impacts of heat and help inform local and regional decision-making, particularly where heat exposure may be underappreciated as a potential public health hazard. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Communicating the threat of severe winter weather is not simply a matter of the number of inches of snow or degrees of cold; it also considers the potential impacts of the storm. The winter storm severity index (WSSI) is a graphical product from the National Weather Service that presents anticipated impacts from forecast winter weather for a range of winter conditions. To assess the utility of the WSSI and how an impact-based winter weather forecast product is interpreted and used to inform decision-making, a mixed-methods social science study was conducted by the Nurture Nature Center in coordination with the Weather Prediction Center. Through focus groups and surveys, testing in the Hydrometeorological Testbed, and iterations on design and category descriptions, several themes emerged about how professional stakeholders understand, interpret, and use this product for communicating about impending winter weather. There is perceived utility in the WSSI for situational awareness and as part of a package of other information to inform decision-making. However, there is variability in interpretations of impacts, resulting from differences in geography, community readiness, and experience, among other factors, which creates complications in communicating the forecast. Furthermore, many users seek quantities related to winter weather, suggesting that education about what impact-based products include and what data are shown is necessary. Understanding the factors that influence perspectives on impact levels and the variable needs for winter weather information across regions improves forecasters' abilities to effectively communicate and provide critical information that helps end users prepare for severe winter weather. Significance Statement: Effectively communicating severe winter weather is critical to supporting communities in being prepared for and mitigating weather-related losses and damages. The winter storm severity index focuses on impacts to provide awareness of impending winter weather, information that is useful but not always interpreted consistently, requiring an understanding of factors influencing perspectives on impact levels and user education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

South Florida experiences some of the highest coastal hurricane vulnerability in the United States. Mobile home communities in south Florida are particularly vulnerable to hurricanes due to the weaker structural integrity of the home or land and a mix of structural and sociodemographic factors. A mixed-methods study was conducted to assess hurricane risk perceptions, experiences, and decision-making among permanent mobile home park (MHP) residents in Broward and Miami-Dade Counties. Return-by-mail surveys were distributed in July 2016 after several years of nominal hurricane activity in south Florida (and before Hurricane Matthew's formation in September 2016), and focus groups were conducted at MHPs in May 2018, eight months after Hurricane Irma's September 2017 landfall. Quantitative analysis of 44 in-person and 57 return-by-mail survey responses revealed that respondents tended to be older, retired, or unemployed and had modest levels of education, with many expressing forms of social- and structural-level hurricane risk before Hurricane Matthew. Qualitative analysis of six focus group discussions conducted after Hurricane Irma revealed that the constraints and vulnerabilities experienced by residents coalesced into several primary themes related to preparation, evacuation, assistance, stress and anxiety, tree concerns, and recovery. Participants specifically highlighted their concerns about tree hazards, damages, and maintenance issues arising before, during, and after hurricanes in MHPs. These results build on the scholarship on hurricane risk by underscoring the structural and social vulnerability of residents living in MHPs that constrain building resilience, adaptive capacity, community restoration efforts, and advocating for policy changes. Significance Statement: This study aims to understand local hurricane risk perceptions, experiences, and vulnerabilities among residents of mobile home parks after a decade-long hurricane drought in south Florida and also to understand the barriers residents faced after a major hurricane. A hurricane drought is critical to study because it can erode individual and community-level preparedness. Residents of mobile home parks may experience more flooding, higher winds, tornadoes, and other dangers during hurricanes. Residents also face county-, neighborhood-, and household-level structural vulnerabilities that restrict their options related to hurricane preparedness, safety during a storm, and resilience in its aftermath. Our study uses various forms of data collection to obtain insights from permanent residents of mobile home parks in south Florida. In addition, it discusses the social and economic disadvantages and opportunities that policy makers can address in climate change risk management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Republic of the Marshall Islands is beginning to feel the impacts of climate change. Its geography and low-lying landscape have put it at a disadvantage to fight the coming seas. National leadership and environmental groups continue to provide locals with communications about the challenges to come. While climate change is a concept of science, there may be local barriers to its public internalization. This study seeks to determine if there is a relationship between fundamentalist Christian views, climate change communication, and Marshallese perceptions of global environmental change. The Marshall Islands has a deeply religious population, the majority of whom are fundamentalist Christians. A mixed-methods survey is employed to assess the impact that the belief in biblical literalism, the Noahic Covenant, and apocalyptic narratives exert over Marshallese views of environmental change. Results demonstrate that nonelite Marshallese inhabitants do not see climate change as an existential threat but rather as a sign of the end times and the Second Coming of Christ. This has significant implications for human security and migration outcomes if current climate communication methods are ineffective with respect to urgency. If locals see climate impacts through a religious lens, climate change communication must incorporate biblical concepts and address contextual understandings. Significance Statement: The purpose of this study is to investigate how biblical literalism impacts the way in which Marshall Islanders interpret information on climate change and its impacts. Religion is a strong factor in the development of cosmology and/or worldview of all peoples; it provides a lens through which people understand the events of their existence. Our results show that climate impacts are interpreted by the followers of some literalist sects to be signs of biblical apocalypse. Viewing climate impacts as divine will pose a challenge to the need for relocation planning, adaptation, and personal safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a result of climate change, extreme precipitation events are likely to become more common in Oklahoma, requiring cities and municipalities to plan for managing this extra water. There are multiple types of practitioners within communities who are responsible for overseeing planning for the future, including stormwater and floodplain management. These practitioners may be able to integrate weather and climate information into their decision-making to help them prepare for heavy precipitation events and their impacts. Floodplain managers from central and eastern Oklahoma were interviewed to learn what information they currently use and how it informs their decision-making. When making decisions in the short term, floodplain managers relied on weather forecasts; for long-term decisions, other factors, such as constrained budgets or the power of county officials, had more influence than specific climate predictions or projections. On all time scales, social networks and prior experience with flooding informed floodplain managers' decisions and planning. Overall, information about weather and climate is just one component of floodplain managers' decision-making processes. The atmospheric science community could work more collaboratively with practitioners so that information about weather and climate is more useful and, therefore, more relevant to the types of decisions that floodplain managers make. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emergence of precision and digital livestock farming presents an opportunity for sustainable animal farming practices that enhance animal welfare and health. However, this transformation of modern animal farming through digital technology has several implications for the technological, social, economic, and environmental aspects of farming. It is crucial to analyze the ethical considerations associated with the digitalization of modern animal farming, particularly in the context of human–animal relationships and potential objectification. This analysis can help develop frameworks for improving animal welfare and promoting sustainability in animal farming. One of the primary ethical concerns of digital livestock farming is the potential for a digital divide between farmers who have access to advanced technologies and those who do not. This could lead to a disparity in animal welfare and health outcomes for different groups of animals. Additionally, the use of artificial intelligence in digital livestock farming may lead to a loss of personal connection between farmers and animals, which could impact the animal’s well-being. Another ethical concern of digital livestock farming is the potential for the objectification of animals as mere data points. The use of sensors and other monitoring technologies can provide valuable data on animal health and behavior, but it is important to remember that animals are sentient beings with complex emotional and social needs. The use of digital technologies should not lead to neglect of animal welfare or a lack of human responsibility toward animals. Furthermore, social context becomes essential while integrating technologies in livestock farming to overcome ethics. By considering the cultural and societal norms of different communities, we can ensure that the use of digital technologies does not undermine these values. To address these ethical challenges, the development of standards and codes of conduct for the adoption and implementation of digital livestock farming tools and platforms can help ensure that animal welfare and sustainability are prioritized. This can help alleviate the privacy concerns of stakeholders and improve sustainability in animal farming practices. Additionally, the use of virtual and augmented reality technologies can provide a way to enhance human–animal interactions and provide more personalized care to animals, further promoting animal welfare.

In addition to measuring forecast accuracy in terms of errors in a tropical system’s forecast track and other meteorological characteristics, it is important to measure the impact of those errors on society. With this in mind, the authors designed a coupled natural–human modeling framework with high-level representations of the natural hazard (hurricane), the human system (information flow, evacuation decisions), the built environment (road infrastructure), and connections between elements (forecasts and warning information, traffic). Using the model, this article begins exploring how tropical cyclone forecast errors impact evacuations and, in doing so, builds toward the development of new verification approaches. Specifically, the authors implement track errors representative of 2007 and 2022, and create situations with unexpected rapid intensification and/or rapid onset, and evaluate their impact on evacuations across real and hypothetical forecast scenarios (e.g., Hurricane Irma, Hurricane Dorian making landfall across east Florida). The results provide first-order evidence that 1) reduced forecast track errors across the 2007–22 period translate to improvements in evacuation outcomes across these cases and 2) unexpected rapid intensification and/or rapid onset scenarios can reduce evacuation rates, and increase traffic, across the most impacted areas. In exploring these relationships, the results demonstrate how experiments with coupled natural–human models can offer a societally relevant complement to traditional metrics of forecast accuracy. In doing so, this work points toward further development of natural–human models and associated methodologies to address these types of questions and improve forecast verification across the weather enterprise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]