In 2022 the total costs of the Climate Crisis in the US were $148.3 billion for winter storms, hurricanes, floods, and wildfires. For just the first eight months of 2023, the costs have been 16.7 billion, and the hurricane season hasn’t really started yet. That’s not counting the loss of life or displacement of persons or insurance premiums to pay for some of these losses. We know that Canada also already had an extreme wildfire season this year.
While these losses cannot be charged directly to climate conditions, the correlations are well established. We’re talking real money now. This is no longer a theoretical issue raised by the scientists about future harm. We’re talking about tipping the curve where we may be approaching the point of no return. We are getting close to the point where we may not be able to recover from the damage we’ve already done, much less the damage that we are continuing to do.
While in many ways we still are dependent upon the consumption of fossil fuels to produce our growing demand for electric energy, the price tag is getting to be more than we can bear. It’s not just the financial costs, it is the long-term damage to the environment. For thousands of years, we had little impact on the earth in comparison with what Mother Nature could do. Starting with industrial revolution, the pendulum began to swing. We have aggravated Mother Nature, and she is starting to retaliate. We will be the losers. Some already are beginning to predict how long our planet may be habitable.
The Covid-19 Pandemic was a crisis that cost millions of lives as well as economic ruin for many businesses and individuals. We are still in the process of recovery. The Climate Crisis is on a scale that dwarfs the Pandemic, and yet we try to ignore it at our peril. The partisan political divide is crushing programs that might provide solutions. In doing so, we are limiting our options even more. Yes, technology can help, but it can’t carry the whole load. We’ve got to reverse direction. We’re long past being satisfied with status quo. We hear frequent appeals to more individual action, but it will take coordinated efforts on a grand scale world-wide. We’re literally in a sink-or-swim situation, and the lifeboats left a long time ago.
The smoke from the Canadian wildfires irritated millions of Americans this year both literally health-wise, and in the direct effect Mother Nature on a rampage. We couldn’t tell California to go fall off into the Pacific Ocean anymore. It was a problem for the Midwest as well as both coasts.
Al Gore graciously stepped aside in the Presidential race when the U.S. Supreme Court presented a battle plan that would have divided the nation. We cannot step aside in 2024.
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.