| | | | | Welcome. This week, greening oceans and a beaver is born in London. But first, how climate hits your household's finances. |  | | The Treasury Department, usually engrossed in America's budget, is now interested in yours. The result is a brief report, "The Impact of Climate Change on American Household Finances," attempting to tease out the relationship between climate hazards and the average household's finances. We often talk about the costs of climate change in billions and trillions of dollars. That's fine for policymakers, but what about your bank account? The report's authors say they need more data to answer that question with precision, but here are some takeaways: - You can expect "substantial financial costs": At least 13 percent of Americans reported "economic hardship" from severe weather events and disasters in the past year. The cost of climate and weather disasters in 2022 alone was $176 billion. Those financial losses stress the households least able to afford them. For example, five years after Hurricane Katrina the owners of about a fifth of affected properties still had not been able to repair them. One study in Florida found damaging storms are driving gentrification as rebuilding puts ownership out of reach of lower-income residents.
- Nowhere will be safe from climate extremes: "Every county has some level of exposure to future climate hazards," the authors state. The map below shows counties at the highest risk for flooding, wildfire or extreme heat. By 2050, nearly a third of the U.S. population is expected to experience at least one extreme weather event every year.
|  | - Climate shocks will jeopardize incomes, while raising prices for goods, transportation and energy: Droughts, floods and extreme temperatures are set to raise food prices, and reduce crop yields, while disrupting the shipping of basic goods. At the same time, extreme weather will disrupt incomes, especially for workers in agriculture, construction, manufacturing, and tourism. One study found extreme heat threatens about $55 billion in annual earnings from cutbacks in working hours, or about $1,700 per worker. And there's not much of a safety net to catch them: A 2023 U.S. Census Bureau survey found that in the past year more than one-third of Americans reported using loans or credit cards to meet immediate spending needs after a disaster.
What should households do? Treasury's advice amounts to "fasten your seat belt." To the extent possible, people should shore up their homes and their finances, and have a plan for extreme conditions, if and when they strike. Physical and financial resilience will go a long way. Have questions or ideas for the column? Write climatecoach@washpost.com. |  | Learning Curve "September shattered global heat records," writes Washington Post reporter Scott Dance, "and by a record margin." Temperatures around the world last month approached those normal for July, climate scientists say. The planet's average temperature was more than half a degree Celsius (0.9 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than the previous September, the largest monthly margin ever observed. | Snapshot New York was inundated Sept. 29. John F. Kennedy International Airport received 8.65 inches of rain — the most ever recorded there — as floodwaters swept the city. "We have to be sure that we are ready not for the storms of 1,000 years or the storms of 100 years," New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) said at a news conference the next morning, "but the storms that are literally coming month by month." Below, members of a special rescue unit check for people trapped in Mamaroneck. |  |  | The Second Degree This week, I wrote about how shampoos and soaps are mostly plastic bottles filled with water, and why you should try something else. One more reason to avoid purchasing such products, says Alan Stone, an environmental health and engineering professor at Johns Hopkins University, is that most water-based shampoos, wipes and other similar products contain chemicals like triclosan and pyrithione. They kill aquatic organisms downstream as well as bacteria crucial to anaerobic digestion used in water treatment plants. And if you're looking for more zero-waste products after reading my most recent column, I found the Reduce Report, put out by two passionate eco-product customers, a helpful way to sift through the options. One warning: Avoid zero-waste "shampoo bars" that contain saponified oils (oils that have been converted into soap by reaction with alkali) and lye. And a few comments on my essay in last week's newsletter about how religions have lost their original conservation ethic: Mary pointed out that in the Quran, the prophet Muhammad does not countenance wasting resources: He told followers not to waste a drop of water while making ablutions — even if they are using a raging river. John said the Bahá'í faith had its own interpretation of Adam and Eve: "Our goal became to make of the whole world a Garden of Eden," he wrote, "but with faith, knowledge, hard work, and the desire to provide for all." Finally, one reader pointed out a passage I cited in the newsletter is in Ecclesiastes, part of the Hebrew Bible, rather than the Torah: " … you should not corrupt it and destroy My world, for if you corrupt it, there is no one to fix it after you." |  | On the Climate Front From The Post: Same-sex sexual activity may have evolved to help mammals mitigate conflict. What the world would look like without fossil fuels: A thought experiment shows the complexities of phasing out oil, gas and coal. The Biden administration approved three new offshore oil leases, drawing the ire of both parties, even as it tries to end new offshore oil projects. Follow the high-tech hunt for one of the world's most elusive sharks through DNA sampling off Corsica. From elsewhere: Trees, which make clouds by releasing small quantities of vapors called sesquiterpenes, are also are making climate models hazy, reports Wired. Nearly 60 percent of Earth's ocean surface is greener, according to a recent study in the journal Nature, and scientists suspect climate change. It took electric vehicles about six years to go from 1 percent to 10 percent of global market share, Utility Dive reports, but one study estimates it may take just six more years to reach 80 percent adoption despite signs of a backlash. An endangered Sumatran rhino was born in Indonesia, and a beaver was born in London for the first time in 400 years. |  | | Auntie Barb, a family friend, gifted us the "Climate Couch," a refurbished chair for the Maine woods. It's the perfect size for the next generation, so it didn't take long for my son to figure out just where to sit. If he ever writes a column, it already has a title. | | Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here to get The Climate Coach in your inbox every Tuesday and Thursday. See you next Tuesday, Michael Coren, Climate Coach | | | | | | | | |
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