Nearly one third of all Americans live in a county that experienced a weather disaster this summer, according to an analysis from The Washington Post. The data starkly shows the intensification of the climate crisis in recent years and the urgent need for action to prevent further disaster.
Over 32 percent of Americans lived in a county or state declared a disaster area by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), according to the analysis of federal disaster declarations. The publication also found that 64 percent of Americans live in an area that experienced a multiday heat wave over the past months.
The analysis reveals a concerning trend regarding the impacts of the climate crisis on the U.S. The share of Americans living in a weather-disaster-afflicted county or state has increased steadily since 2018, when it was only 5 percent. Even 2020, which was a landmark year for climate disasters, saw a smaller share of Americans — 28 percent — affected by natural disasters where they lived.
This summer, however, has indeed been particularly disaster-prone. Intense heat waves hit the Pacific Northwest in June, shattering records in the area where a large share of residents don’t have air conditioning; nearly 200 people in Washington and Oregon died. In July, heat waves hit elsewhere in the West, where Death Valley experienced the hottest temperature in recorded history. July ended up being the hottest month in Earth’s recorded history.
Wildfires raged — and in some cases, are still raging. They not only choked out communities in Idaho and California, but also as far east as New York, where smoke had traveled from across the country. And, as climate crises converged, Hurricane Ida tore through Louisiana before heading into New York, leaving floods, blackouts and destruction in its wake.
The overlapping disasters demonstrated that the climate crisis isn’t a far-off crisis; it’s here and now. All of these weather events were either caused directly by or intensified drastically by the climate crisis. They show no sign of stopping, as carbon dioxide concentrations increase year by year and fossil fuels continue to dominate the energy industry.
The most recent report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warned of dire consequences if the world stays on its current track. The average temperature could rise past 4 degrees Celsius or more over the next few decades on the trajectory we’re on now, causing unprecedented damage.
Concerningly, even if the world’s powers stopped emitting greenhouse gases tomorrow, the IPCC wrote that a certain amount of warming is already locked in. If corporations, financial institutions and governments agreed to begin drawing down emissions immediately — a more realistic but still incredibly improbable scenario — it would still be logistically difficult to stop the world from reaching 2 degrees Celsius of warming, much less the 1.5 degrees Celsius agreed upon in the Paris agreement.
Yet even some Democrats in Washington are recalcitrant about barring new fossil fuel projects that even traditionally conservative groups have deemed necessary. Certain legislators, like Sen. Joe Manchin (D-West Virginia) maintain deep ties with fossil fuel lobbyists. Backed and funded by the lobbyists, conservative Democrats and Republicans have repeatedly blocked climate legislation, moves that are tantamount to climate denial.
“What we are doing with global warming is making ourselves play a game that is rigged more and more against us because of our own actions,” climate scientist Claudia Tebaldi told The Washington Post.
The U.S.’s best chance at passing significant climate legislation is currently sitting before Congress in the form of the $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill. Climate groups are urging lawmakers to include hundreds of billions of dollars worth of climate mitigation measures like clean energy tax credits and stopping fossil fuel subsidies — measures that would cost less than the climate crisis is currently costing and will cost over the next decades.
Help us Prepare for Trump’s Day One
Trump is busy getting ready for Day One of his presidency – but so is Truthout.
Trump has made it no secret that he is planning a demolition-style attack on both specific communities and democracy as a whole, beginning on his first day in office. With over 25 executive orders and directives queued up for January 20, he’s promised to “launch the largest deportation program in American history,” roll back anti-discrimination protections for transgender students, and implement a “drill, drill, drill” approach to ramp up oil and gas extraction.
Organizations like Truthout are also being threatened by legislation like HR 9495, the “nonprofit killer bill” that would allow the Treasury Secretary to declare any nonprofit a “terrorist-supporting organization” and strip its tax-exempt status without due process. Progressive media like Truthout that has courageously focused on reporting on Israel’s genocide in Gaza are in the bill’s crosshairs.
As journalists, we have a responsibility to look at hard realities and communicate them to you. We hope that you, like us, can use this information to prepare for what’s to come.
And if you feel uncertain about what to do in the face of a second Trump administration, we invite you to be an indispensable part of Truthout’s preparations.
In addition to covering the widespread onslaught of draconian policy, we’re shoring up our resources for what might come next for progressive media: bad-faith lawsuits from far-right ghouls, legislation that seeks to strip us of our ability to receive tax-deductible donations, and further throttling of our reach on social media platforms owned by Trump’s sycophants.
We’re preparing right now for Trump’s Day One: building a brave coalition of movement media; reaching out to the activists, academics, and thinkers we trust to shine a light on the inner workings of authoritarianism; and planning to use journalism as a tool to equip movements to protect the people, lands, and principles most vulnerable to Trump’s destruction.
We urgently need your help to prepare. As you know, our December fundraiser is our most important of the year and will determine the scale of work we’ll be able to do in 2025. We’ve set two goals: to raise $81,000 in one-time donations and to add 1250 new monthly donors by midnight on December 31.
Today, we’re asking all of our readers to start a monthly donation or make a one-time donation – as a commitment to stand with us on day one of Trump’s presidency, and every day after that, as we produce journalism that combats authoritarianism, censorship, injustice, and misinformation. You’re an essential part of our future – please join the movement by making a tax-deductible donation today.
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With gratitude and resolve,
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