Climate loss, grief and migration
by David Zetland (originally published at The one-handed economist)
Climate loss, grief and migration
The climate we grew up with is leaving. International action to slow climate chaos is not really working. National action and market innovations are having some useful impacts, but they are far too few on the mitigation side and far too weak on the adaptation side. We are going to face consequences with weak defenses.
When I moved to Amsterdam in 2010, I joked that it was going to get “California weather” due to climate change.
- Now, California is turning from heaven to hell, in terms of drought, floods and fire.
- 2022 was Amsterdam’s warmest year on record (since 1951) and the country’s second warmest year since 1901. The 2022 drought did not beat the 1976 record, but it was still in the top 5 percent of dry years.
For me, these climate-change impacts are somewhat mitigated by my history of living in different places (in California, traveling, in the Netherlands), but I bet you homebodies have noticed that the climate of your youth is changing:
- The flowers and trees are responding differently.
- The rain and cold are coming in stronger or weaker.
- The heat is more intense, for longer.
- New animals are arriving while old ones disappear.
These changes are affecting holidays, foods, work, play and even chores.
Do you notice these changes? Which are good? bad?
My one-handed conclusion is that all of us will need to give up on some of our values and expectations, while some of us will need to move, either for comfort or survival.
Is this the first step in our return to a nomadic life?
The displacement in America is well underway.
Not so sure. Patterns look odd. Florida still growing strongly and if there were a state exposed to sea level increase and bigger hurricanes and hotter summers, it would be Florida. No state is entirely immune, but Illinois would seem at comparatively lower impact, but it is losing population. Other factors still dominate I sense.
I see changes to wildlife especially birds – fewer numbers and fewer species. More insects. Less snow in the mountains, and what there is melts off quickly. Which may mean spring floods, when we get warm rains on snowpack. More humidity in the air. More rain year round, if anything more now in summer than winter. Stronger winds, and more north/south than before. Warmer nights all year long. Temperature differentials are generally not so great night/day and summer/winter.
Generally bad for here. More costly to deal with overall and not just because of inflating prices. It is more and more difficult for the farmers/ranchers to make a living. We always had a far more limited set of options, and changing conditions have made things worse.
Jane:
I have seen similar. Harsher winters and hotter summers. Rain fall has increased. The melt in the northern climates has an impact on the weather too. And yet we still invest in more environment polluting practices and toys. One of the worst I have seen in the altering of EPA controls on diesel engines so owners of such vehicles have more power and blow blacker sooty exhaust. I do not get it and why would they wish to do so? Just to be noticed . . .