False, Axios, Atlanta’s Rainfall Increase Isn’t Attributable to Climate Change
9 hours ago Anthony Watts
In its April 7, 2025 article titled Heavier rain is becoming more common in Atlanta, Axios Atlanta claims that “climate change is causing heavier downpours in Atlanta” citing data supplied by Climate Central (CC). This attribution is false. Evidence shows that localized urban factors—not global CO₂ levels—are responsible for the modest increases in rainfall intensity in cities like Atlanta.
In their Axios article, writers Kristal Dixon and Alex Fitzpatrick parrot flawed conclusions previously debunked in a March 2025 analysis from Climate Realism, titled Climate Central’s Misleading Urban Rainfall Claims Are All Wet. Good reporters would have examined the evidence independently, rather than simply uncritically echoing CC’s claims. As shown in that post, CC failed to examine long-term historical context and rested their claims on cherry-picked data for the trends they identify. When a more comprehensive data set is examined, such as that compiled at Climate at a Glance, national U.S. precipitation patterns do not support the idea of a climate-driven rainfall crisis. The U.S. Precipitation page makes clear: while some regional variability exists, no alarming or unprecedented surge in rainfall frequency or intensity is attributable to climate change.
The most glaring flaw that Axios inherits from CC is the complete omission of the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect—a basic and long-documented phenomenon in which urban areas retain more heat than surrounding rural regions due to asphalt, concrete, and reduced vegetation. This localized warming creates increased upward convection providing the potential for increased storms in particular locations. Cities like Atlanta are textbook examples of UHI impact as seen in the side-by-side images below.
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2025/04/10/false-axios-atlantas-rainfall-increase-isnt-attributable-to-climate-change/
