US infrastructure at risk as federal weather model underestimates extreme rainfall.
The federal government's reliance on an outdated weather model, the NOAA Atlas 14, is putting hundreds of billions of dollars in infrastructure spending at risk, according to a study by climate research firm First Street Foundation. The model vastly underestimates the likelihood of flooding, which means that many new projects could face flooding threats far earlier than expected, forcing local governments to pay for unanticipated maintenance or potentially wasting funds from the $350 billion the legislation set aside for projects. First Street Foundation's research identified the Atlas 14 model as failing to keep up with the risks from the changing climate.