Climate change is here. While governments and businesses can still take bold action to limit global warming, temperatures are already on average 1 degree celsius warmer than pre-industrial levels. The planet is experiencing more frequent and intense extreme weather such as fire, flooding, blizzards and heat waves.

We have to start thinking about whether we are prepared for the impacts of the warming that has already happened or that is inevitable. But where do we start?

People tend to think about being prepared as “an achieved state,” says Samantha Montano, an assistant professor of emergency management at North Dakota State University. That’s the wrong approach because “at an individual level, our preparedness is changing literally minute to minute.”

And that depends on factors such as where you are when disaster strikes, your relationships with other people and your information sources.

This series of blog posts will cover topics including:

• What to do as a homeowner or renter
• Getting your pets ready
• Strengthening community ties
• Emergency evacuation
• The dangers of extreme heat
• Responding to floods
• Responding to wildfire

We will explore what people can do day-to-day to be better prepared for extreme weather.

Have a question about disaster and extreme weather preparation? Let us know in the comments to this blog item or by emailing townsendtess@gmail.com or sactonewstips@newsreview.com and we’ll try to cover it in a future post.

Read the next post here.