The PFM Environment thread

[Kirk]

Well, Xi is doing both positive and negative things. Still burning fossil fuels but gearing the economy to renewable energy by producing many of the units required for renewable energy. So still on the growth trajectory as usual and hoping to make money from exports of stuff needed for renewable energy. This is still a lot better than the USA which has no major production of renewables and has infinitesimally small numbers of electric vehicles. So Xi is not the worst offender here. Vlad, of course, is doing nothing positive about climate change and the permafrost in Siberia is going to be a big problem down the line. India is way behind on action and Brazil is still burning the Amazon jungles. Not good.

Quite a number of Xi's coal initiatives - ie plants - are just for the Party to chest beat and keep local employment figures at acceptable levels. The comrades love this sort of thing. There's no need for it though. China burns more coal than the world combined.

 

[Andrewxyz]

https://archive.ph/BB8wQ New York Times. "As Insurers Around the U.S. Bleed Cash From Climate Shocks, Homeowners Lose."

"The insurance turmoil caused by climate change — which had been concentrated in Florida, California and Louisiana — is fast becoming a contagion, spreading to states like Iowa, Arkansas, Ohio, Utah and Washington. Even in the Northeast, where homeowners insurance was still generally profitable last year, the trends are worsening."

NYT article about home insurers pulling out of large parts of the USA due to losses they blame on climate change.

4 dead & a million people without electricity as storm hits Houston area.

4 dead as severe storms hit Houston area; hundreds of thousands lose power in Texas

Houston Mayor John Whitmire said strong winds downed power lines, spread debris and left many roads impassable.

www.nbcnews.com

Also severe flooding & storm damage in France & Italy this week.

 

[les24preludes]

"The insurance turmoil caused by climate change — which had been concentrated in Florida, California and Louisiana — is fast becoming a contagion, spreading to states like Iowa, Arkansas, Ohio, Utah and Washington.
Also severe flooding & storm damage in France & Italy this week.

Insurance companies base their cover on facts, not political statements. It's becoming increasingly impossible to claim that these disasters are a "once in a generation event" or a "perfect storm" or "unusually severe". The world is going to have to expect all this and adapt. Sometimes by building in new locations. It's going to become more and more impractical to keep restoring infrastructure that is subject to regular damage. Bad news for some major cities like New Orleans and for locations at the foot of glaciers and mountains prone to avalanches, like in the Alps.

 

[les24preludes]

Is anyone else fed up with media types saying 'I've travelled all over the world looking at the effects of climate change and I'm now going to tell you what not to do' ?

???