Weathering Extremes

The document outlines a comprehensive strategy for state, local, and tribal governments to combat information threats associated with extreme weather. It categorizes threats into environmental, geopolitical, and hate-based vectors, and advocates for a shift from reactive crisis communications to proactive 'trust architecture' built through grassroots partnerships. The guide provides a risk matrix for triaging threats based on immediacy, severity, and prevalence, and offers technical advice on 'pre-bunking' and Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) to ensure high-trust information remains visible in AI-driven search environments.

• Information threats related to extreme weather are categorized into three 'concentric waves': environmental threats that attack science, geopolitical threats that attack government responses, and those involving hate, extremism, and conspiracies that attack people.
• Generative AI compounds information risks through the creation of 'slopaganda' (mass-produced low-quality clickbait), 'hallucinations' where AI invents facts during crises, and 'LLM grooming' to manipulate the training data of chatbots.
• Effective triaging of information threats requires a risk matrix that weighs the immediacy, severity, and prevalence of potential harm against available government resources.
• Information resilience relies on 'trust architecture'—interpersonal networks and grassroots partnerships—rather than social media newsfeeds, as data indicates Americans trust personal connections most.
• Pre-bunking, or inoculation, is presented as a primary defense strategy to build cognitive resistance to manipulation before it occurs, which is more effective than debunking after a belief has taken root.
• To counter the 'zero click' environment created by AI chatbots, the document recommends Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), which involves placing identical high-trust content on sites frequently cited by LLMs, such as Wikipedia and Reddit.
• Case studies illustrate how disinformation can lead to real-world violence and policy failure, such as the mobilization of armed militias during Hurricanes Helene and Milton in 2024, and the defeat of California Senate Bill 549 in 2025 due to AI-generated falsehoods.

APA

King, J. (2026). Weathering Extremes. The Council on Strategic Risks. https://councilonstrategicrisks.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/King-CCS-Weathering-Extremes-Sep-2026.pdf

Chicago

King, Jennie. Weathering Extremes. The Council on Strategic Risks, 2026. https://councilonstrategicrisks.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/King-CCS-Weathering-Extremes-Sep-2026.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=King |first1=Jennie |title=Weathering Extremes |publisher=The Council on Strategic Risks |date=September 2026 |url=https://councilonstrategicrisks.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/King-CCS-Weathering-Extremes-Sep-2026.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{king2026weathering, author = {King, Jennie}, title = {{Weathering Extremes}}, institution = {The Council on Strategic Risks}, year = {2026}, month = sep, url = {https://councilonstrategicrisks.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/King-CCS-Weathering-Extremes-Sep-2026.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }