Climate change should be bigger concern for Americans - SC Times

Climate change should be bigger concern for Americans

Plenty to be concerned about, but climate change too far down the list for Americans

The Pew Research Center recently conducted an extensive survey asking Americans to evaluate “how much of a problem” a range of issues the country is facing seems to them. Of the 16 issues ranked, inflation came out at #1, followed closely by political division, drug addiction, gun violence, and violent crime.

Interestingly, climate change was far down the list with just 39% in aggregate calling it a very big problem. But the results were very different when sorted by political affiliation: 64% of those who identified as Democrats or Dem-leaning felt climate change was a very big problem vs just 14% of Republicans or Rep-leaning respondents. Through this political lens climate ranked as the #3 concern for Democrats, behind gun violence and health care costs. For Republicans, by contrast, climate change tied with racism for last place.

One wonders how these unconcerned Americans feel about the pall of smoke that has hung over much of the Midwest in recent weeks. Near the end of June nearly 20 million acres of Canadian forests had burned, an area the size of South Carolina, and of course fire season runs clear through September.

At the same time the smoke was darkening skies over Minneapolis, Chicago, and Detroit, dangerous heat was setting in on the Gulf Coast. Cities including Dallas, New Orleans, Memphis, and Nashville all prepared for heat indices in excess of 110 degrees. One third of the nation’s population was under excessive heat warnings last week, and “unprecedented temperatures” resulted in multiple deaths and power grid failures that left hundreds of thousands without air conditioning. And it’s still only June.

Meanwhile, here in central Minnesota we have smoky skies and dry ground. SCSU meteorologist Bob Weisman reported Wednesday that St. Cloud was experiencing the third driest and 7th warmest June on record with a few days remaining in the month. The US Drought Monitor places most of the state in either “abnormally dry” or “moderate drought” conditions, with a big swath of central Minnesota experiencing “severe drought” conditions. Ask a farmer how a prolonged early-season drought might affect their bottom line this year.

These short-term weather impacts, of course, are not in themselves direct proof that the climate is changing. But the longer-term data is. As we continue to see disruptions to climate patterns we’ve come to understand as “normal,” extreme events will become more common: we will see more droughts, more torrential rainfalls, more heat waves, stronger storms, and less predictable weather patterns in general. We’ll suffer more wildfires, struggle with more water shortages in some places and higher floods in others, and our infrastructure will struggle to keep up. After all, our roads, bridges, dams, irrigation systems, buildings, and power grids were all designed for “normal” conditions of the past. And our farms? Suffice it to say the US Department of Agriculture states that “America’s farmers and ranchers are on the frontlines of climate change.”

According to the National Centers for Environmental Information 2022 generated at least $165 billion in weather and climate-related disasters in the US. These reflected a wide range of events, including winter storms, wildfires, heat waves, floods, tornadoes, and hailstorms, enough so that the total number of billion-dollar disasters in 2022 (there were 18) ranked third in our history, behind only 2020 and 2021. Over the past five years such disasters have inflicted almost $600 billion in damages—not including the much larger number of events producing damages below $1 billion.

Climate change and its associated impacts should concern us all. It would be interesting to learn how the Pew survey data broke down geographically, since in recent years major disasters have been most common along the Gulf Coast and in California, with the exception of severe winter storms in the northern tier states. But even if we are fortunate to escape the direct impacts of climate-driven disasters we all pay the price in rising insurance premiums, disaster relief, and rebuilding costs when billions are lost.

We may not need to fear climate change yet, but we certainly should recognize it happening around us. Unfortunately, as a “new normal” takes shape mother nature doesn’t really care if we’re concerned about it or not.

This is the opinion of Times Writers Group member Derek Larson. He teaches history and environmental studies at The College of St. Benedict and St. John’s University. His column is published the first Sunday of the month. He welcomes your comments at twg@anderson-larson.net.