Climate Change: The Stakes

Although still to early to know, preliminary data so far indicates 2020 is the hottest year on record. If the phrase “hottest temperatures on record” sounds familiar, it should. That particular record has been broken with each new year for over a decade with some slight variation.

The dire consequences of ignoring climate change are starting to take shape. If action is not taken, humanity faces it’s literal demise. All of the data cited here is easy to find and freely available:

Abnormal weather is quickly becoming the norm as climate change’s effects grow more pronounced. At the start of 2020, a full 40% of Australia was on fire, an entire continent. 100 or even 1000 year storms have been occurring every few years because of changes to the climate. In the US alone, nine of the ten most costly hurricanes in history have occurred since 2004. California has experienced consistent drought since 2011 and massive wildfires have become an annual occurrence. Since 2015, wildfires in California have caused 51 billion in damage and covered 8,797,662 acres of land. They seem to be getting worse too, with the 2020 wildfires total area equaling the previous two largest combined. The increased severity of winter storms throughout the country have been apparent to anyone paying attention. Freak weather events like Iowa’s 2020 derecho have become an annual occurrence in all regions of the United States and the world.

The effects of climate change get exponentially worse when certain grim benchmarks are met. An example is the destruction of…