The past two weeks have witnessed the worst forest fires in Colorado history, a deadly Mid-Atlantic storm that left 23 dead and 4 million without power, and a record-shattering heatwave across the East Coast and the Midwest that has not been seen since the Dust Bowl. More than 2,000 heat records have been broken in the past week. As the words "extreme weather" flash across TV screens, where are the other two words: "global warming"?
Democracy Now! hosts a discussion about the politics of news reporters linking climate change to their coverage of extreme weather events with The Guardian's U.S. environment correspondent Suzanne Goldenberg and Jeff Masters, director of meteorology at the Weather Underground website.
"I think it's important for the public to hear that what we're seeing now is the future," Masters says. "We're going to be seeing a lot more weather like this, a lot more impacts like we're seeing from this series of heatwaves, fires, and storms. And we'd better prepare for it. We'd better educate people what's going on, give the best science that's out there on what climate change is doing and where it's likely to head. I think we're missing a big opportunity here -- or our TV meteorologists are -- to educate and tell the population what is likely to happen. This is just the beginning -- this kind of summer weather we're having. This is just the beginning."
Goldenberg just returned from Colorado, where she was on assignment reporting on the massive wildfires. "Absolutely, climate change is a big factor here. We've had a 10-year-or-more drought across the West. You haven't had rain. And when you have had rain, it hasn't come at the right time or in the right quantity. Crucially, you haven't had snow. You've had really mild winters," Goldenberg explains. "It's that dry. And that's an effect of climate change."
Author and professor Christian Parenti argues on Democracy Now! that the Republican-led assault on the public sector will leave states more vulnerable to global warming's effects.
"Another thing that's missing from these discussions is not just the words 'climate change' but the words 'public sector,'" Parenti says. "I mean, who's out there fighting these fires? It's the public sector, you know? Where do people go when there are these cooling centers? It's the public sector. ... This assault on the public sector must be linked to climate change."
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This is the "Conservative" view of what America is and it's very dangerous.
Having been born in Colorado and having spent my whole life here. I have never seen a major forest fire that was extinguished (or even significantly altered) by firefighters. Not once. Not ever. These fires merrily run their course until a rainstorm finally appears extinguishing them. The most these firefighters ever accomplish is to save some evacuated structures in the fire zone by the expensive process of dropping chemicals from the air, leaving an intact house standing in the midst of a dead and blackened wasteland that nobody cares to re-occupy for many years. You can see many of these intact ghost structures in any burnt-out area in Colorado. The cost to the taxpayer of "saving" these houses probably exceeds the value of the house by a factor of at least 10.
For the last two days there have been heavy rains and cool temperatures here and the big fires are dying down. Soon government officials will be appearing on the airwaves to take credit for this.
If no fires were ever fought, you would reach a natural state in which ground level fires burn off excess fuel and you wouldn't have those enormous crown fires. But letting nature take its course would mean that no houses could be built in the woods.
Sunstorms are entering a peak period. There is a surprising potential for blackouts worldwide lasting for months. That can unleash a nuclear nightmare of multiple meltdowns at power plants.
New technology can prevent the problem. A massive program to protect 20,000 vulnerable huge transformers, 5,500 of them in the USA, will soon be possible.
If the facts are widely understood fast enough, millions of lives might be saved and the nation itself may survive.
This is a national and international security issue. Recognizing the potential emergency can boost the global economy by accelerating renewable decentralized energy.
See www.aesopinstitute.org for more information.
A sunstorm is an external threat. External threats unite people.
A bold initiative would include 50 million more solar roofs.
This can help during long-term blackouts.
It can also generate millions of jobs.