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29 | The Human and Economic Toll of El Niño with Chris Callahan
Season 1
Episode 29
Published 2 days, 17 hours ago
Description
Every day the news is filled with stories on extreme weather, its impact on human lives, and the economic impact of disasters. In 2026, the state of Indiana has already set a record for the sheer number of tornados in a year according to the National Weather Service, and there were 58 confirmed tornados in June alone in the state.
The number of tornados doesn’t show a picture of the larger climate situation, but they are a symptom, particularly when shown over time. Four of the top five years with the most tornados have happened in the past four years, and the extreme weather events continue to rack up massive dollars’ worth of damage. Flooding rains in Indiana have impacted multiple parts of the state, and weather-related disasters are seemingly always in the news.
That’s just here in Indiana. The same story is repeated at locations around the world, but data surrounding the human and economic impact of these events, be it from extreme heat, cold, storms, or other weather events, can be maddeningly difficult to attain or is controversial.
We’re joined today by Assistant Professor Christopher Callahan from the O’Neill School. Chris is a climate scientist whose work focuses on the economic and social impacts of climate change. He uses tools from both physical climate science and quantitative social science to assess how to extreme climate events such as heat waves and El Niño events affect human health and economic growth around the world. He has also worked to develop quantitative frameworks for climate accountability, showing how major countries and fossil fuel firms have altered local climate and amplified the resulting social impacts across the globe.
The number of tornados doesn’t show a picture of the larger climate situation, but they are a symptom, particularly when shown over time. Four of the top five years with the most tornados have happened in the past four years, and the extreme weather events continue to rack up massive dollars’ worth of damage. Flooding rains in Indiana have impacted multiple parts of the state, and weather-related disasters are seemingly always in the news.
That’s just here in Indiana. The same story is repeated at locations around the world, but data surrounding the human and economic impact of these events, be it from extreme heat, cold, storms, or other weather events, can be maddeningly difficult to attain or is controversial.
We’re joined today by Assistant Professor Christopher Callahan from the O’Neill School. Chris is a climate scientist whose work focuses on the economic and social impacts of climate change. He uses tools from both physical climate science and quantitative social science to assess how to extreme climate events such as heat waves and El Niño events affect human health and economic growth around the world. He has also worked to develop quantitative frameworks for climate accountability, showing how major countries and fossil fuel firms have altered local climate and amplified the resulting social impacts across the globe.