US Billion-Dollar Weather Disasters: Rising Costs & Recovery

In this episode of the All Things Sustainable podcast, we're exploring how billion-dollar scale extreme weather and climate disasters in the US are growing in frequency and cost — and what that means for businesses, communities and  disaster recovery efforts.  The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) previously developed and published the billion-dollar disaster report and its related historical database. In 2025, the agency discontinued the research and Climate Central picked up the baton for gathering the data and publishing related research.   Climate Central is a nonprofit made up of climate scientists and communicators, including some former NOAA staff. In March 2026, the organization published the latest report tallying US weather and climate events that caused at least $1 billion in damages.   In the episode, we speak to project lead Adam Smith, Senior Climate Impacts Scientist at Climate Central. He explains how the landscape for climate research is evolving in the US and what the business community can take away from past weather and climate disasters.  "We know that extreme events will continue to happen and we need to learn from them," Adam says. "The result will be we're better prepared in the future to minimize the loss of life and property."  Related content:  For the world's largest companies, climate physical risks have a $1.2 trillion annual price tag by the 2050s  What the LA wildfires show about climate change and the future of insurance  Physical Climate Risk | S&P Global   Upcoming events:  The All Things Sustainable podcast will be live in London April 29. Learn more and register to attend: Sustainable1 Summit 2026: Turning Uncertainty into Opportunity | S&P Global  Learn more about the inaugural Climate Week Zurich, where All Things Sustainable will be the official podcast: Climate Week Zurich | 4-9 May 2026  Register to attend DC Climate Week | 20-26 April 2026, where All Things Sustainable will be