Climate watch: It’s now obvious — no place is ‘safe’ from climate change

Fifteen years ago, when I first began to think seriously about climate change, the problem seemed remote. One often read about polar bears starving on vanishing ice floes. Or people in distant parts of the world whose homes and livelihoods were threatened although they had done the least to overburden the atmosphere with greenhouse gases.

These arguments failed to motivate people. The animals threatened and the islands about to be swallowed up by sea-level rise were a long way away. Furthermore, these arguments predicted harms that would take place a long time in the future. People resist changing their ways (even more making sacrifices) when the threat is not imminent. Some people may even have reassured themselves that, although poor people elsewhere might suffer, the United States with its world-leading economy would be immune from the effects of climate change.

But look who is suffering now. The flames in drought-stricken California consume the homes of the rich and the poor alike. The effects of climate change are visible right now on our television screens, not some time in the distant future. We can no longer tell ourselves that the suffering will happen elsewhere or that we will somehow be exempt.

And it is not just the people in California who will suffer. A Brookings Institution article explores how climate change is forcing the insurance industry to raise premiums to offset rising risks or face going out of business. All of us may find our housing insurance going up, even if we do not live in places identified as especially threatened by climate change.

It is becoming obvious that no place is “safe” from climate change. We knew that sea-level rise would affect the great cities on the eastern coast, especially Miami. We knew also that hurricanes might get stronger, but they would mostly threaten the coasts as well. Many felt confident that inland spaces were not endangered. Places like Asheville, North Carolina, were even thought of as “climate havens.” Such confidence was misplaced. Hurricane Helene carried so much moisture that it had picked up from the exceedingly warm Gulf of Mexico that it inundated the mountains, sweeping down the ravines and narrow river passages, and taking whole towns along with it.

Destructive rainfall events not associated with hurricanes are becoming more frequent. “Nine of the top 10 years for extreme one-day precipitation events have occurred since 1995,” according to the EPA. This statistic hit home in 2016 when flooding in Milesburg showed that locations far inland and not on major rivers could suffer damage from torrential rain.

Nor are we immune from economic suffering. In addition to the increasing cost of fire and flood insurance, Carbon Brief reports that food prices are rising as agriculture around the world is buffeted by heat, droughts and floods. Favorites like coffee and chocolate are particularly sensitive to changes in the weather.

This is 2025. I never expected climate change to become so destructive so soon. Scientists are discovering that their predictions, far from being hysterical and exaggerated, have actually been too timid. What will we see in the next fifteen years? We now know that even relatively small increases in greenhouse gases can have major consequences. Is this the year we decide to take the threat seriously and take action on climate? If not, when?