Patricia Sue Grigson, Robert C. Twining 

While it is difficult, if not impossible, for most humans to conceptualize CO2 levels or ocean temperatures, we are very aware of the growing number of storms and their increase in severity. Indeed, according to the National Weather Service, the number of severe storms has increased in the United States from 1 – 3/decade in the 1950s through the 1980s, to 8/decade in the 1990s, 30/decade in the 2000s, and 54/decade in the 2010s. Here we argue that a Severe Storm Index (SSI), calculated by dividing the sum of storms/decade by 10, is readily intelligible and can be used as a gauge to inform our behavior as we seek to correct climate change in the United States via a large-scale, fully integrated, “war-time like” effort.