climate change sea level rise

We ignored pandemic warnings and now look. Let’s not do the same for climate change.

We are getting grim, daily reminders about what happens when we don't heed early alarms from public health and science.

Our intrepid TV newsfolk are fond of comparing daily U.S. COVID-19 death tolls to other disaster numbers.


This week, I've seen or heard the grim stats compared to deaths at Antietam, Pearl Harbor, 9/11, or "12 jumbo jets a day falling out of the skies," as we exceeded each one by Wednesday. Fair enough, but what about other comparisons?

It's not as easy when you're describing whether the latest calved iceberg is the size of Central Park, or all of Manhattan, or even Connecticut. It's harder still since icebergs generally don't shut down beaches or restaurants or kill your Aunt Gladys.

The wrath of climate change could span decades, or even centuries. It won't have the immediacy of shutting down the school year, or postponing the Masters, but it will hurt more, and for much, much longer.

In 1994, Laurie Garrett published "The Coming Plague," a book that received far more attention than your average science/medical book, which is to say, not much at all.

However, Garrett's book was both masterful and prophetic. Garrett laid out a hellscape of seven-figure death tolls, a crumbling global economy, and social chaos if we didn't pay more attention to things too small to be seen.

At the time, notices like this review from Eliot A. Cohen in Foreign Affairs abounded: "After reading this work one begins to think a note of hysteria may be justified."

Looking back, some hysteria surely would have helped. But Garrett's book and the alarm calls from journalists and public health experts fell on deaf ears, as they have for a quarter century, and despite real-world body blows from Ebola, H1N1 flu, and more.

I'm not being cavalier about COVID-19. On May 26, it took my mom, and it hurts. But we need to recognize that the world is poised to repeat its dismissal of pandemic warnings with climate change. And the dangers posed by things too big to be reckoned with – our oceans and atmosphere – may not be contained once they're released.

That will hurt a lot more, for more of us, and for much longer.

Peter Dykstra is our weekend editor and columnist and can be reached at pdykstra@ehn.org or @pdykstra.

His views do not necessarily represent those of Environmental Health News, The Daily Climate or publisher, Environmental Health Sciences.

Banner photo: Flooding in Norfolk, Va., in 2017 (Credit: Chesapeake Bay Program/flickr)

Stencil of an electric vehicle on a brick pavement.

EU shifts course on climate policy as deregulation accelerates

The European Union has begun scaling back major environmental protections under the Green Deal, sparking concern among campaigners who say the bloc is rapidly losing its climate leadership.

Ajit Niranjan reports for The Guardian.

Keep reading...Show less
Car tailpipe up close.

Republicans push to eliminate fines for carmakers that violate fuel economy rules

Senate Republicans are backing a proposal that would strip penalties from federal fuel economy standards, a move critics say could drive up gasoline use and tailpipe pollution.

Brad Plumer and Jack Ewing report for The New York Times.

Keep reading...Show less
View of the U.S. capitol building
Credit: Jacqui/Pixabay

Proposed tax rules risk choking U.S. clean energy projects over China supply links

A budget bill moving through Congress could block most U.S. clean energy projects from receiving tax credits if any part of their supply chain includes ties to China.

Dan Gearino reports for Inside Climate News.

Keep reading...Show less
Weight scales on an image of a smokestack.

EPA faces class action lawsuit over canceled environmental justice grants

A coalition of nonprofits, tribes, and local governments is suing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency after it abruptly canceled $3 billion in environmental justice grants awarded under the Biden administration.

Tracy J. Wholf reports for CBS News.

Keep reading...Show less
Flooded river with bare trees in distance against a cloudy sky.

Vermont defends landmark climate law as Trump administration and oil industry sue

Vermont is preparing for a drawn-out legal fight after President Trump’s Justice Department joined fossil fuel interests in suing to block the state’s new Climate Superfund law, which seeks to make oil companies pay for decades of greenhouse gas emissions.

Nina Sablan reports for Inside Climate News.

Keep reading...Show less
Graphic image of two human heads facing away from one another.

New AI tool raises concerns over industry's ability to sow doubt on pollution research

A chemical-industry-backed researcher is using artificial intelligence to question links between pollution and health risks, prompting concern among scientists about bias and regulatory delay.

Dharna Noor reports for The Guardian.

Keep reading...Show less
a car that is sitting upside down on top of a pile of debris after a tornado.

FEMA delays and funding cuts leave state emergency programs in limbo

State and local emergency management agencies are facing growing uncertainty as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) delays major grant programs and President Trump signals plans to dismantle the agency.

Jennifer Berry Hawes reports for ProPublica.

Keep reading...Show less
From our Newsroom
Multiple Houston-area oil and gas facilities that have violated pollution laws are seeking permit renewals

Multiple Houston-area oil and gas facilities that have violated pollution laws are seeking permit renewals

One facility has emitted cancer-causing chemicals into waterways at levels up to 520% higher than legal limits.

Regulators are underestimating health impacts from air pollution: Study

Regulators are underestimating health impacts from air pollution: Study

"The reality is, we are not exposed to one chemical at a time.”

Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro speaks with the state flag and American flag behind him.

Two years into his term, has Gov. Shapiro kept his promises to regulate Pennsylvania’s fracking industry?

A new report assesses the administration’s progress and makes new recommendations

silhouette of people holding hands by a lake at sunset

An open letter from EPA staff to the American public

“We cannot stand by and allow this to happen. We need to hold this administration accountable.”

wildfire retardants being sprayed by plane

New evidence links heavy metal pollution with wildfire retardants

“The chemical black box” that blankets wildfire-impacted areas is increasingly under scrutiny.

Stay informed: sign up for The Daily Climate newsletter
Top news on climate impacts, solutions, politics, drivers. Delivered to your inbox week days.