The chart above (from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) should frighten all Americans. It shows that the number of natural disasters causing at least a billion dollars on damage have been increasing in the United States since 1980. These disasters have increased in bot size and frequency.
Why is this happening?
In spite of right-wing denials, this is happening because U.S. politicians (and those in other countries) have refused to recognize the causes of global climate change and taken sufficient action to stop it (or at least mitigate its effects). Some action has been taken, but not nearly enough.
Now Donald Trump - long a global warming denier - has signed executive orders in his first week back in office that will rescind much of the little that has been done. He has:
* Withdrawn the United States from the Paris Accords.
* Cleared the way for more oil/gas drilling in Alaska - including in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
* Ordered the elimination of regulations on oil and gas drilling elsewhere.
* Banned the building on new windmills offshore.
* Stopped the Biden administration funding for building EV charging stations
* Recommended the construction of new oil and gas pipelines.
* Scrapped the fuel economy rules that encouraged the sale of EVs, and eliminated subsidies and regulations that favored them.
* Revoked a 1977 framework for environmental impact statements for approval of new construction.
* Is trying to end California's right to set its own vehicle emission standards.
These are exactly the wrong things to do to bring down the number and size of natural disasters. In fact, it will probably increase the size and frequency of them
But Trump doesn't seem to care. He wants cheaper gas (to make himself look good) and more profits for his billionaire buddies in the oil and gas industry - and he's willing to create more disaster victims to get that.
It's going to be a tough four years for the global climate and its victims!
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