extremes

A recent study by the Chicago Project on Security and Threats suggests how Trump has incited extremes and increased the potential for political violence: Six percent of Americans — the equivalent of 15 million adults — believe force is justified to return Trump to the White House.

Ever since Barack Obama left office in 2017, being American has felt a bit like living inside of a pinball machine: We’ve been flying between extremes, pinging off edges, rolling toward what feels like end times and then shooting back into the game.

“As well as increased rainfall extremes, we are seeing hotter summer which can bake the soil and reduce its ability to absorb water,” said Prof Mark Smith, from the University of Leeds.

Weather extremes can wreak havoc on construction projects, especially when they involve so much concrete, he added.

While La Niña winters have been linked with drought years, that pattern really is only evident in Southern California, said Julie Kalansky, deputy director of the Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego.