NPR

More People See Climate Change In Record Floods And Extreme Weather. Will That Mean More Action?

Research shows that more people are linking climate change to extreme weather events, like the ongoing flooding in America's heartland. Experts are hoping that also inspires action.
A group of friends look at the record-high Arkansas River in Fort Smith, Arkansas. "It's part of history now," says Savanna Bowling. "We had to come see it."

Angel Portillo doesn't think about climate change much. It's not that he doesn't care. He's just got other things to worry about. Climate change seems so far away, so big.

Lately though, Portillo says he's been thinking about it more often.

Standing on the banks of a swollen and surging Arkansas River, just upriver from a cluster of flooded businesses and homes, it's easy to see why.

"Stuff like this," he says, nodding at the frothy brown waters, "all of the tornadoes that

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