Many governments are unfortunately not facing the issue of climate change. People feel extremely angry and betrayed when they find out down the road that they were sold out, that something they expected to be able to rely upon fails. We all expect governments to be intelligent and to plan appropriately, and to anticipate future situations for which responses are needed. A properly run government is like having an investment in the bank which, when needed in the future, is expected to be there. If, at some future date, it turns out that the money was wasted people would feel justifiably outraged and betrayed. Its the same when infrastructure fails. No government should legitimately be able to claim that they didn’t know or didn’t have time to prepare.
For example, rising sea levels is far more catastrophic than most people think. Its not just an issue of the unpleasantness of flooding. It goes way beyond that. Already many major water treatment districts in coastal areas across the country spill out unprocessed sewage into waterways when there are heavy rains and the storm sewer systems get overloaded. Water treatment plants, which are extremely expensive, are usually located close to coastal areas for strategic reasons, exactly the most vulnerable areas.
And beyond that, there is a lot of other infrastructure which often has been deliberately placed near waterways for strategic reasons and also because that simply is where humans tend to concentrate their developments and settlements.
One area that people might not consider fully is the issue of heat levels which exceed what is tolerable to humans. I’m lucky that I live in an area where that is never a problem, but there are a lot of areas where heat is a major issue and with climate change it is going to get pushed to levels that are very serious.
All I can say is don’t let your governments shirk their responsibilities and do nothing. Don’t wait for some future time when there is a catastrophe because no one planned and no one wanted to bother to face the facts.
Here is the full report of the America’s Preparedness Report Card at statesatrisk.org.
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