Hurricanes Sandy and Harvey were examples. Rough weather that is made much rougher because of climate change produces billions in damages now, potentially trillions later.
The same time that Harvey was producing billions in damage and inflicting suffering upon tens of thousands, and the deaths of fifty, climate change was also exacerbating bad weather, also causing massive damage in other parts of the world, including 1200+ deaths and impacting 40 million plus people in Asia.
The fools who deny climate change will happily pay billions to red-state Texas because of the flooding. Of course, the money will find its way to bankers and well-connected contractors, land developers and politicians.
The reality is that climate change is going to exacerbate weather and manifest as weather events that exceed all past records, like the historic thousand year flood Hurricane Harvey produced.
Scientists talk about how, over time, the oceans will rise centimeters or inches over time. And that will happen. But the harsher reality is that Climate Change has show its true face and it is violent, brutal and massive destruction. When costs of dealing with Climate Change are weighed, or factored into economic assessments, it's essential to add the billions of dollars in costs Hurricanes like Harvey, Sandy and Katrina are inflicting upon individuals and regions.
And it is insane to simply rebuild where these extreme weather events occur. The reality is that Houston is no longer viable as it existed. Nature has made a clear statement. I'm not saying that Houston should shut down. But Serious studies of the flooding must be done and before any funds for rebuilding are provided, a big picture plan must be implemented so that the same destruction is not allowed to happen again. That may include refusing to rebuild tens of thousands of homes that exist on ground that is no longer safe.
Further, every spot on the planet must be re-assessed in terms of the exposure and risk for damage caused by extreme, climate change exacerbated weather. Based on those assessments, new bullding and construction policies and restrictions must be put in place. And existing construction must also accept the responsibility for re-building so that properties-- homes, businesses, streets, roads and neighborhoods are re-made so they can survive extreme weather.
This will costs billions of dollars. But it will, surely, cost much less than doing the same AFTER floods like Harvey and Sandy. This is a bitter pill to swallow, but it must be done. Things are not going to get better, because the corporations that produce and aggravate climate change are pulling the strings in Washington.
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