Raging fires, wild storms: Is the rate of global climate change outpacing our progress in the assessment and management of chemical stressors to effectively protect humans and the environment for extreme climate conditions?

Abstract

<p>Extremes of climate are occurring with ever greater frequency. Wildfires, floods, droughts, and cyclones are having devastating impacts on humans and ecosystems around the world. As this editorial was developed, at least 115 people are known to have died in the recent Maui wildfires, thousands have been evacuated as wildfires ravage parts of Canada and the Mediterranean, and thousands are homeless as flooding inundates areas of Chile. The 2022 floods in eastern Australia were some of the largest and costliest in Australia's recorded history (Callaghan, 2023). The 2015–2019 droughts in Europe and Australia were the worst experienced in over 2000 years (Büntgen et al., 2021). Unprecedented high temperatures, inundations of water and sediment, and record low and high rainfalls are predicted to continue with global climate change (GCC) (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization & Bureau of Meteorology, 2022). Thus, a new paradigm for methods and predictive tools is necessary in the fate and assessment of chemical stressors for effective response and resilience in this GCC-impacted world.</p>