The Trillion Dollar Crisis Facing the U.S.

Fears of climate change seems to rise and fall with natural disasters. The East Coast has been fortunate to avoid a hurricane so far this season but out West wildfires have been destroying homes, businesses and forests.

More than 200 square miles are now burning in Yosemite National Park threatening groves of giant sequoias as well as a reservoir that supplies water and power to San Francisco.

Thirty-six large fires are raging in eight western states, from Wyoming to Washington State, plus Texas and Alaska, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. Its web site says the “fire potential remains above normal for a large portion of the Northwest and California Mountains” because “fuels remain much drier than normal.”


That dryness is due to climate change, according to Ramez Naam, a technologist and author who has written extensively on climate change. “Wildfires are about four times more common in the U.S. now because of climate change,” says Naam.  (more)

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