Guest essay by Eric Worrall

According to BullSci, in 20-40 years of unchecked global warming people will need air conditioners at least 18 days per year to survive temperatures in Louisiana.

Dealing with climate change requires more fight and less flight

By Dawn Stover | October 26, 2020

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America’s West is facing massive wildfires. Its coasts are being inundated by sea level rise. Its desert cities and farms are stressed by ever-increasing demands for air conditioning and water. The Southeast faces increased hurricane risks. The heartland is seeing extremes of both heat and precipitation. In relatively cool places like Alaska and northern Minnesota, temperatures are rising even faster than elsewhere, melting the tundra and turning forests into savannas.RELATED:About last night’s fracking comments in the debate

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“Where can I go to be safe?” is the wrong question. The wealthiest Americans can build bunkers or buy private islands. They can pay security guards and private schools. They can access the best medical treatments the world has to offer. They can buy solar panels and Teslas. But they can no more escape climate change than they can stop breathing. They cannot purchase their own atmosphere or their own ocean.

The new climate migrants. Because many Americans do not yet recognize climate change as an emergency, some are still migrating into harm’s way. America’s coastlines and desert cities continue to swell with new arrivals and new housing developments.

That will soon change. By 20 to 40 years from now, under a high-emissions scenario with no policies to mitigate global warming, everyday temperatures in the US South and Southwest will be extremely hot, according to an analysis by ProPublica and The New York Times Magazine of Rhodium Group research. In that scenario, some counties in Arizona will be above 95 degrees for half the year, and some parts of the Midwest and Louisiana will be so humid for about 18 days of each year that humans will need air conditioning to stay cool enough for survival.

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Read more: https://thebulletin.org/2020/10/dealing-with-climate-change-requires-more-fight-and-less-flight/

As someone who lives in a place which is warmer than New Orleans, I’m happy to pass on our well researched Aussie emergency survival plan for extreme heat, so you can teach your kids how to deal with the coming climate crisis.

Drag the TV outside, jump in the pool, put up a big sun shade, and buy a large bag of ice for the beer and soft drink cooler.

As with any emergency survival plan, practice drills are essential.

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