Floods are bad. Whether you are rich or poor, sudden floods can cause widespread damage to life and property. The impacts of Hurricane Katrina and Harvey still linger in the mind. During severe floods, families may lose property they’ve held for generations. In the worst cases they may lose family members. Farmers lose livestock, and businesses suffer long-lasting damage. Though insurance covers some losses, the damage has a lasting impact on livelihoods. But in parts of the world prone to … [Read more...]
Bringing Much-Needed Reality to Extreme Weather Claims
For decades, headlines around the world have claimed that various extreme weather events---hurricanes, typhoons, floods, droughts, heat waves, wildfires, even cold snaps---are driven by global warming. Similar claims have persisted in the record-breaking cold afflicting North America this winter. Such claims become rationale for expensive policies to mitigate the warming by cutting CO2 emissions, achievable only by reducing fossil fuel use and substituting wind and solar energy … [Read more...]