The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) continues to cite billion dollar damage (BDD) events as a proxy for the intensity of climate change despite the statistic’s numerous flaws.
The agency stated that the increasing frequency of BDD weather events is a sign of worsening climate change in a January press release and blog post recapping 2023, and then subsequently defended the use of the stat in communications with the Daily Caller News Foundation. However, the statistic does not relate directly to atmospheric conditions, and it has several other serious flaws that call into question NOAA’s claims that 2023’s 28 BDD events demonstrate that climate change is accelerating and causing more severe natural disasters as a result.
“For millions of Americans impacted by a seemingly endless onslaught of weather and climate disasters, 2023 has hit a new record for many extremes,” NOAA Chief Scientist Sarah Kapnick said of 2023’s BDD statistics, according to the press release. “Record warm U.S. temperatures in December, a record-setting number of U.S. billion-dollar disasters in 2023 and potentially the warmest year on record for the planet are just the latest examples of the extremes we now face that will continue to worsen due to climate change.”
“According to NOAA’s