“We are running the most dangerous experiment in history right now, which is to see how much carbon dioxide the atmosphere can handle before there is an environmental catastrophe.”
Elon Musk
Crazy times
To say the weather has been crazy lately is an understatement. We are bombarded with one tragedy after another in the news. And extreme weather events are happening so fast it’s hard to keep up with any except the most recent.
Here’s a short list from just the past few weeks:
- Historic Yellowstone flooding
- Extraordinary heat wave across the US
- Record-breaking forest fires in Arizona
- Deadly flooding in India and Bangladesh
- Drought in Italy worst in 70 years
- Extensive heat wave and forest fires in Spain
Behind each of these events are real people who are suffering. It’s heartbreaking. People have died, lost homes, and have had their lives and livelihoods upended.
The images from these events are stunning. My guess is you have seen the video of the home in Montana being washed away by the Yellowstone River. But if you haven’t, here you go. The damage from that flooding is extensive and will be costly.
Why is this happening?
While there have always been severe weather events, they are becoming more frequent and extreme. You may be wondering how much of what is happening can be attributed to climate change. Luckily, there are organizations figuring that out for us.
World Weather Attribution is a collaboration of some of the top climate scientists around the world. Their goal is to quickly analyze the contribution of climate change after an extreme weather event. For example, they recently determined the heat wave in India and Pakistan was 30 times more likely because of the warming planet.
NASA is also studying the link between the warming Earth and extreme weather, and reported “there’s increasing confidence that human-induced climate change is making extreme events statistically much more likely.”
A costly trend
Not only are these weather events happening more frequently, but they are getting more expensive. Take a look at the billion-dollar disasters from last year:
Solutions
Climate change is affecting each of us. Even if you haven’t personally been through one of these events, chances are you know someone who has. Also, we are all paying for the aftermath through our tax dollars and rising insurance rates.
If you are concerned and wonder what you can do, educate yourself and talk to people about what you learn. Consider using your voice to advocate for climate solutions. Individual choices are important, but we also need systemic change in order to reverse course. The more people who influence others in business in government, the more quickly solutions will get rolling.
Let’s do something about climate change. Learn about it. Think about it. Talk about it.