We don't want to spend any money of our tax dollars on global warming, we can't afford to, we are 16 trillion in debt and counting. We just hit a milestone for the first time our debt is now equal to our total economy.
But what you fail to see is that the effects of global climate change affect everyone and cost everyone billions of dollars per year.
First point that the term "global warming" is very misleading to many people. For example, predictions are that if the gulf stream changes course, then western Europe will have arctic like weather conditions. So, to be more accurate the term "climate change" is far closer to the true result that most people are likely to see.
Several years ago it had been theorized that one of the results from climate change would be more violent weather in many regions of the world. There has been a continuing trend of increasing numbers and strength of hurricanes in the Americas as well as stronger and more frequent Typhoons in Asia. This year we also saw tornadoes in New York and the normal tornado season in the US started very early.
I am not going to list every occurrence of extreme weather here. A simple search will show multiple instances of increased flooding, drought, storms, cold and hot temperature records around the world.
The fact that the weather is changing to become more extreme is not a question of doubt. This is hard irrefutable evidence based on real measurements of real weather.
The other important fact to quieten the naysayers is this, while it is true that there have been multiple recorded instances of massive climate variation in the past, these have occurred over 100,000's or millions of years. What we are recording is a massive change in global climate
at an unprecedented rate of change. That is the thing which is so worrying.
Why should we, the taxpayers be concerned with this?
If you are a resident of one of these four states then you really should be concerned about the weather because these are the four most expensive places to live in the US based on storm damage.
- Florida
- North Carolina
- Georgia
- Alabama
With costs of the severe weather adjusted to 2002 dollars, hurricane Andrew cost the US approximately 36 billion dollars. The drought of 1980 cost over 48 billion while the 1988 droughts cost almost 62 billion.
As for hurricane Katrina in 2005, it is estimated to have cost the US approx US$80 - 100 billion and 1,833 lives were lost.
With roughly 150 million tax returns per year, that means that Katrina alone would add over US$600 to everyone's tax bill if shared out equally.
On top of that, every time your insirance company hikes the premium on your house, car or life insurance, remember the probable cause is the weather. Forget about the oild companies, government or a bunch of scientists for a moment. Your insurance company is wetting its pants about this trend, and you are going to be paying higher premiums as a result.
The figures for the first 11 months of 2011 look like this
Event | Date | Cost | Deaths |
---|
October Northeast Snow Storm** | October 29, 2011 | $3+ billion | 27 |
Tropical Storm Lee** | September 8, 2011 | $1+ billion | 13 |
Hurricane Irene | August 26-28, 2011 | $7.2 billion | 46 |
Missouri and Souris River Flooding | Spring-Summer 2011 | $2 billion | 5 |
Texas Drought & Wildfires | Spring-Summer 2011 | $5.2 billion | 2* |
Mississippi River Flooding | Spring-Summer 2011 | $5.0 billion | 1* |
Midwest, Southeast, Plains Severe Storms** | June 16-22, 2011 | $1.25 billion | 0 |
Midwest/Southeast Tornado Outbreak | May 21-27, 2011 | $8 billion | 177 |
Midwest, Southeast, Plains Severe Storms | April 19-21, 2011 | $1.0 billion | 0 |
2011 Super Outbreak | April 25-30, 2011 | $9.0 billion | 321 |
Midwest/Southeast Tornado Outbreak | April 14-16, 2011 | $2.5 billion | 38 |
Southeast/Midwest Severe Storms | April 8-11, 2011 | $2.25 billion | 0 |
Midwest/Southeast Severe Storms | April 3-5, 2011 | $2.5 billion | 9 |
Groundhog Day Blizzard | January 29-February 3, 2011 | $3.9 billion | 36 |
So you have 675 deaths and over US$ 53 billion.
Remember, everything above is not a theory, it is a fact. Continuing extreme weather is going to be costing you more and more in taxes to repair the damage and insurance premiums.
Some of us don't implicitly just believe everything we are told. There are still some people in our country who question what is obviously incorrect.
In the US in high school and college, subjects that have political attachments are basically taught as indoctrination instead of as unbiased education, so some of us smell a rat quickly on certain subjects.
I am not American so I find it difficult to understand how can you say that research on global climate change has any political connection. When the tornado comes, is it somehow going to avoid hitting any houses where the owner voted for the right party? Is the floodwater going to magically stop like Moses and the Red Sea just because you believe in Big Daddy?
Weather affects all of us (especially in the four US states I mentioned earlier.
Now, onto the matter of human effect and mitigation. We may not be able to calculate the precise effect man has had, but the evidence supports the fact that the extreme changes we see in global weather are unprecedented in the rate of change and they coincide with human industrial activity. That there is a correlation between these two facts is clear to see.
The question comes up that non-believers are suggesting that the two things are just coincidental, whereas the people that believe this theory suggest they are linked.
So what we have here is a gamble.
If you believe then you would be supporting the development of green technologies to replace current polluting industries. The US still burns coal to generate 52% of its electricity for example, moving away from coal may help the climate but will have side effects like reducing deaths from air pollution, cancers and allergies. You would buy a more fuel efficient car (and save money as a by-product), you would add insulation to your house to burn less fuel (again saving money as a side effect). Possibly the most important thing you could do would be to get the country away from an oil based economy where you are politically linked to regions of the world that are costing you trillions of dollars in military spending. And finally, when you pass your place on this planet onto your children, then their lives would be that little bit better.
Or, you could bury your head in the sand, burn all the oil, trash the place and have your kids hate you.
Being a non-gambling type, I would prefer to go the way of caution and that has nothing to do with politics, just plain economic sense.
---------- Post Merged at 10:10 AM ---------- Previous Post was at 10:02 AM ----------
Different wave lenghts would have sufficed without the insult. That's the second time in this thread you've personally insulted me. I'm done with you.
Where did I insult you personally?
You really should re-evaluate how you approach a discussion. You came bumbling in, denying the effects of global warming, claimed that everything is okay because you have faith in the G-word, then you admit you don't know anything about the most fundamental aspect of the mechanism of global climate change. Finally, because you seemed unwilling to do your own research, I gave you links that explained it.
Personally, I know nothing about fiscal policy or heart surgery, but if I wanted to enter a debate on them I would make sure I educated myself on the topic before announcing my opinions.