Adapting to Climate Change
Why we can’t afford NOT to do something
Even though the COVID-19 Pandemic is dominating 2020 national headlines, chances are, somewhere nearby is a headline related to climate change.
Climate change is no longer a distant problem theorized for the future. It’s here, it’s now and long after the Pandemic is a figment in our memories, a changing climate will keep changing the way we live our lives. In other words, climate change is the tortoise to COVID-19’s hare.
A flood here, a landslide there, the biggest fires ever, the most hurricanes ever, the hottest years ever, it seems like every year, some new weather record is being set and then set again the next year. For some, it feels overwhelming. At the same time when something bad hasn’t happened right in our neighborhood, it doesn’t feel like our problem. But it is.
Not preparing our communities to face climate change will cost us more lives, jobs and money than to do something about it.
Each year, the US spends over $150 billion, or 17% of its GDP growth just for disaster recovery. That number is up from about 6% in the 1980s, and will not stop rising any time soon. Over that period, casualties related to natural disasters are up 314% in the US, while population is only up 44%.
According to the Global Commission on Adaptation, every $1 spent on climate adaptation will create $2 to $10 in future savings from avoided disaster costs. What’s more is that there are innovative tools like Impact Bonds to help finance our response.
The American Society for Civil Engineers gives America’s infrastructure the grade of a D+. Annually, bad infrastructure costs American families repairs of about $3,200. With more extreme weather, even non-disasters will create greater wear and tear on our infrastructure.
If you listen to the TV talking heads, you might think, “I know the climate is changing, but how are we going to afford to do anything about it?” To that the evidence says, how can we NOT afford to do anything about it?
Imagine the ways in which the neighbors we lost could be contributing to our communities and economy. Imagine what you could do with $3,200. Or imagine what the US could have done with $105 billion over this past year. That money could be used to improve education, infrastructure, healthcare, energy generation, reduce the national debt, produce more PPE, the list goes on. Instead, we are spending that money to recover from disasters. It doesn’t have to be this way.
The time for preventing climate change alone has passed. In a post-pandemic world we can strengthen our economies by investing our resources to reduce the impacts of climate change. It would mean less lives lost, more money saved, and more jobs to help strengthen our infrastructure and communities. It’s time to turn the D+ into an A+.
