Tim Kovach: The heat wave may have you asking about how climate change is affecting Cleveland’s weather. Well, today the City of Cleveland released our updated Climate Risk and Vulnerability Assessment, which examines how climate may affect our city in the coming years www.sustainablecleveland.org/crva

The heat wave may have you asking about how climate change is affecting Cleveland’s weather. Well, today the City of Cleveland released our updated Climate Risk and Vulnerability Assessment, which examines how climate may affect our city in the coming years www.sustainablecleveland.org/crva

Climate Risk and Vulnerability Assessment 2024 - Sustainable Clevelandwww.sustainablecleveland.org Air pollution, air quality Cleveland, flooding, summer storms, smog, ground-level ozone, soot, particle pollution, global warming, climate change, heat waves, flash flood, urban heat, carbon emissions...

What is a Climate Risk & Vulnerability Assessment (CRVA)? It helps cities assess the main climate hazards they face, the population groups and community systems most vulnerable to these hazards, and the factors that make us more or less resilient to the impacts. So what did we find?

1.) Climate change is already affecting Cleveland. The number and severity of extreme weather events has increased in Cleveland in recent years. 7 of the 10 warmest years on record have occurred since 2010, with 2023 ranking 4th.

2.) Clevelanders are most concerned about how climate change will affect air quality. Climate change is making our pollution issues worse. Warmer temperatures exacerbate ozone pollution, and we saw last summer how wildfire smoke can severely compromise quality of life.

3.) Extreme heat is another major concern. While Cleveland has typically been buffered from dangerous heat, that is changing. The number of hot days has increased since 2010, and we could experience 15-47 days above 95⁰F by the end of the century.

4.) Extreme precipitation and flooding are another serious threat. The amount of rain falling during the heaviest 1% of storms has increased by 45% in the Great Lakes region since the 1950s. Cleveland is already a major flood risk, and this risk will only increase in the future.

5.) Several Cleveland neighborhoods are highly vulnerable to climate risks. 8 Census tracts are >90%, nationally, for total climate risk. Most of this is driven by underlying socioeconomic vulnerabilities, with 10 Census tracts ranked >98% nationally for baseline vulnerability

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