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Could 2026 Bring the Perfect Summer Storm?
Tue, July 14th, 2026
11:30 AM - 12:30 PM (EDT)
Live Online
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In the United States, the summer of 2026 may be one of environmental crisis. While rising food and fuel prices grab the headlines, they are just some of the challenges facing the U.S. For American farmers, 2026 has been a year marked by expensive fertilizer, drought, costly tariffs, and dangerous pests. A massive El Niño could make 2026 the hottest year yet, bringing deadly fires at a time when federal disaster response is in disarray. Battles are being fought over the construction of artificial intelligence data centers, how they’re powered, and who will foot the bill.
How will this all come together, and what climate impacts should the United States be preparing for? How will lingering questions around the leadership and direction of FEMA effect recovery efforts in case of disaster? And what effect will this hot summer have on Americans as they head to the ballot box in the November midterm elections?
Join the Carnegie Endowment Sustainability, Climate, and Geopolitics’ Noah Gordon and Sarah Labowitz, and journalists Molly Taft of WIRED and David Wallace Wells of the New York Times, for an online discussion about this hot, dry, American summer.
Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.
Event Speakers
David Wallace-Wells
Journalist, The New York Times
David Wallace-Wells is currently a writer for New York Times Opinion and columnist for the New York Times Magazine and writes a weekly newsletter for the paper on climate change, technology and the future of the planet. He is also the author of The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming.
Molly Taft
Senior Writer, WIRED
Molly Taft is a senior writer for WIRED, covering climate change, energy, and the environment. Previously, they were a reporter and editor at Drilled, an investigative climate multimedia reporting project. Before that, they wrote about climate change and technology for Gizmodo, and served as a contributing editor for the New Republic.
Senior Fellow, Sustainability, Climate, and Geopolitics Program
Sarah Labowitz is a senior fellow in the Sustainability, Climate, and Geopolitics Program whose work lies at the intersection of climate, national security, and democracy.
Fellow, Sustainability, Climate, and Geopolitics Program and Fellow, Europe Program
Noah J. Gordon is a fellow in the Sustainability, Climate, and Geopolitics Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, DC.