With climate change, more extreme weather is inevitable. Here’s how Texas must prepare

Data makes hard conversations easier, and few conversations have been as difficult as the one around climate.

It was important to us — as, respectively, Texas’ state climatologist and the chief executive of a nonprofit organization focused on Texas’ future — to bring a new lens to this issue. We wanted to take a data-driven look at extreme weather trends for insight into the future that Texans need to prepare for.

The data shows that Texas’ climate has been changing. That’s the conclusion of a scientific report by Texas A&M University researchers, funded in part by Texas 2036, that observed and analyzed historical meteorological and climate data for Texas.

If, as expected, current trends continue, our changing climate will pose more challenges to Texans living here in 2036 — the year Texas turns 200 — than today in several ways:

• The number of 100-degree days will double over the next couple of decades.
• The expected average temperature in 2036 will be about 3 degrees warmer than the average over the last half of the last century.
• By 2036, extreme rainfall is expected to be 30-50 percent more frequent than the 1950-99 average, causing more flooding — especially in Houston and other Texas cities where impervious surfaces increase the intensity of rainwater runoff.
• Higher temperatures and increased rainfall variability will cause more intense droughts.
• For some parts of the Texas coast, the storm surge risk may double by 2050 due to sea level rise and more intense hurricanes.

This data is consistent with climate-prediction models widely used by scientists. And it shows that as Texas prepares to add 10 million more people by 2036 and build an economy with 7-8 million more jobs, policymakers and business leaders need to prepare for a future that looks different from the past.

Big cities such as Houston need to prepare for more frequent episodes of extreme rainfall and flooding, as the city is doing through its recently released Resilient Houston plan. At the same time, rural communities in West Texas should plan for more intense droughts.

Our growing state needs to leverage this data — and our innovation, talent and leadership — to strategically plan for what a changing climate will mean for our water supply, infrastructure and economy. Given the long-term horizon of 2036, our strong economy can help position us for the future as we rethink everything from growing crops to creating resilient infrastructure to pre-empting new government budget problems.

At the same time, we can harness the state’s vast leadership and expertise to slow or even reverse these trends. Yes, Texas leads the nation in carbon emissions — largely because we have played such a vital role in supplying energy to the nation and the world. But we are also the world’s epicenter of energy innovation.

Already, business leaders in Houston and elsewhere across our state are thinking comprehensively about economically productive ways to position Texas for a low-carbon future.

In recent years, Texas has experienced the worst one-year drought on record, its wettest year, its costliest hurricane and its highest storm rainfall total. To extend its prosperity into future generations, Texas has both the responsibility to prepare for extreme weather, and the opportunity to lead on innovations that the world needs to address coming climate challenges.

The data is in: our growing population and thriving economy will face more extreme weather by our state’s bicentennial. So, the question is, what are we planning to do about it?

John Nielsen-Gammon is the Texas state climatologist and a regents professor at Texas A&M University. Margaret pellings is president and chief executive of Texas 2036 and a former U.S. secretary of education.