From hot air to environmental injustice: end to end event attribution

The human influence on many classes of extreme weather events has been made very clear by extreme weather event attribution studies. However, this is only the first step to quantify the human influence on the actual impacts from these events. Using Hurricane Harvey as a storyline example, we illustrate the causal chain from increased temperatures to increased precipitation to increased flooding to increased structural damages. Detailed geographical information about the effect of climate change on the flood leads to an attribution statement about damages and is combined with census data revealing profound disparities across socioeconomic groups. We leave the listener with rhetorical questions: Can one quantify environmental injustice? If so, can an end to end attribution statement about climate change induced loss and damages provide a defensible claim for reparations?