Costs Of Climate Change Continue To Rise As Storms Become More Destructive
Consider This from NPR
NPR
4.2 • 6.2K Ratings
🗓️ 18 September 2020
⏱️ 13 minutes
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Summary
In the last five years, the United States has lost $500 billion because of climate driven weather disasters, including storms and fires. That estimate by the federal government doesn't even include the storms that have hit the Southern coasts in 2020.
Hurricanes and wildfires are getting more destructive. And with a world that's getting hotter, NPR's Rebecca Hersher and Nathan Rott report that the costs of these disasters will continue to go up.
The change to energy sources with smaller carbon footprints comes with its own risks, too. NPR's Kat Lonsdorf went to Japan to visit the Fukushima region — the site of a nuclear disaster in 2011. Now, people there are working to make the region completely powered by renewables by 2040.
In participating regions, you'll also hear a local news segment that will help you make sense of what's going on in your community.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Joe Perkinson lives right on the Gulf Coast in Orange Beach, Alabama. |
| 0:05.2 | At first, he and most of the people who live around him thought they'd be okay to stay at home |
| 0:11.6 | during a big storm this week. But then... |
| 0:14.8 | It was absolutely terrifying. It was the worst night of our lives. We were completely flat-footed. |
| 0:21.3 | A storm turned into a hurricane. Hurricane Sally. And Joe's house got hit hard. |
| 0:28.2 | Three-foot waves hitting the house on the north side while 125 mile an hour winds shook the whole house |
| 0:34.5 | from the south side. It was just brutal. I'm not liking it. I just sat there just waiting on the |
| 0:39.1 | roof to peel off. They made it through the night. Joe talked to us after the hurricane passed. |
| 0:44.6 | By then, his wife and daughter were out looking at all the damage. The top floor where they |
| 0:49.6 | spend most of their time is fine. The house is on stilts. But the bottom floor is covered in mud. |
| 0:56.2 | The boat dock is destroyed and outside. I'm looking at pine trees with no leaves and the |
| 1:02.4 | boat ripped off of them. There's a car. I've never even seen the car. I have no idea where it came from. |
| 1:07.2 | This isn't the first time Joe Perkinson has waited out a storm. Which, yeah, he says, |
| 1:12.1 | isn't always the best thing to do. But this time, he says, was different. This time, he felt like |
| 1:20.4 | he might actually die. You know, I was just praying. Please let us say it more morning. |
| 1:27.8 | Coming up, hurricanes and wildfires are getting more destructive. And with a world that's getting |
| 1:32.9 | hotter, the costs of these disasters are going up. But trying to change that could cost a lot too. |
| 1:39.7 | This is considered this from NPR. I'm Kelly McEvers. It is Friday, September 18th. |
| 1:54.1 | This message comes from NPR sponsor, unfinished short Creek. The latest investigative true crime |
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