Climate Change and the Yale Program and me

 

My newsletter from the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication posted this a few days ago.

• Americans who think global warming is happening outnumber those who think it is not by a ratio of more than 5 to 1 (73% versus 14%).

• A majority of Americans (60%) understand that global warming is mostly human-caused. By contrast, 28% think it is caused mostly by natural changes in the environment.

• 64% of Americans say they are at least “somewhat worried” about global warming. This includes 28% who say they are “very worried.”

• 56% of Americans think extreme weather poses either a “high” (16%) or “moderate” (40%) risk to their community over the next 10 years.

• Additionally, 66% of Americans think global warming is affecting weather in the United States, including 35% who think weather is being affected “a lot.”

• 11% of Americans have considered moving to avoid the impacts of global warming.

Majorities of Americans also think global warming is currently affecting many environmental problems in the United States, including extreme heat (77%), wildfires (74%), droughts (73%), flooding (72%), rising sea levels (71%), hurricanes (71%), air pollution (68%), water shortages (67%), reduced snowpack (65%), tornados (65%), water pollution (63%), electricity power outages (62%), and agricultural pests and diseases (61%)."

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So the statistics show what we (as Americans) think of weather and climate change. I'm amazed that 28% still think that global warming is caused mostly by natural changes in the environment, rather than man made. (first bullet point).

It is always interesting to have a conversation with someone to see what they think...natural disasters are almost all blamed on climate change in my conversations. But to miss the link to oil production and use is really sad.

So keep on doing whatever you/I can to reduce pollution in whatever way you have. Since we had a strange hurricane disaster here in the mountains of western North Carolina...we have been given an opportunity to change several things. Be better prepared, work harder on reducing global warming both on local and international levels, and talk about it.

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We can do more disaster preparedness!

Individuals:

having a go-bag packed with 4 days of essential clothes and toiletries

having those important papers in a zip-lock bag, 

having a week's worth of water and food that doesn't need power to be edible

having 2 weeks worth of medications that are necessary

having a resource to leave the area in case you rely upon power for medical treatments like C-Papa, electric wheel-chairs needing recharging, nebulizers, etc.

having a full tank of gas if you have a car

having a friend with a car in case you need to leave quickly

having a first aid kit that really has bandages and tape and antibiotic creams  - I did buy one, and have yet to put it in the car

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That's off the top of my head, and I have almost none of these ready as of this writing - but I do believe these are minimums, and there may be more I didn't think of.

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What I learned from Hurricane Helene:

When all communication disappears, you are very alone, and hopefully have some neighbors around. No contact was available through any electronic means. Cell towers went down and the internet went with the electricity. No water means you can't flush.

No power means food will spoil quickly...remaining ice will only last a day or so, and we didn't have power for 2 weeks

Those with a generator were able to keep so much more going...but they require gas. And guess what...without electric power at gas stations, you couldn't even pump gas. So people had to drive to South Carolina to fill up gas cans to take back to Black Mountain to run their generators. (I saw a line of folks doing so when I finally evacuated to South Carolina, (on day 4) and was getting my car gas tank filled.) But many places in South Carolina were also without power so some gas stations were still closed 4 days later, and some people had no power weeks later (even in Columbia SC.)

Communication by Black Mountain's town square meetings (with a PA system via generator) brought a lot of people together who were experiencing the disaster. Helene hit Friday morning. Our first town meeting (held every day that first week) was at noon on the following Monday. A woman who worked with the US Forest Service organized it and was the MC. I watched it via the Town of Black Mountain's Facebook page, sent through Starlink while I was in South Carolina. That was also the day FEMA started setting up and giving out water and food in the parking lot of Ingles Grocery.

Our water lines had been destroyed by the floods, as well as many power lines. Major roads had been completely washed away as well as bridges. The first responders had their hands full! 

Word of mouth was the only source of information on days one on, until people provided Starlink to get on the web at certain places. Churches were first to provide meals, and people of all walks of life stood in line for a hot meal. There were poster-board signs in front of churches and the police staation, saying when the various places would be open, or when a Town Meeting would be held. 

On day one, September 27, a Friday, I had no idea what the floods had done in Swannanoa and Asheville. I mainly saw downed trees, which were being cut back to make the most traveled roads open first, like US 70 and I-40. Yes, for several hours nobody could travel in or out of Black Mountain on either of our main connecters.

 And actually there was no interstate travel, and smaller two-lane highways usually had been flooded or lost bridges.  I-26 going south was the only open interstate out of our 4 interstate directions by Monday (day 4) when I drove it. The mountain pass on I-40 to eastern North Carolina had landslides as well as pavement that had washed out, and was able to open sometime later that week for 2 lanes only. The roads north on I-26 and west on I-40 weren't repairable, having the pavement eaten away by river erosion. It was hard to imagine that these interstate highways were estimated to not be opened again until 2025, and this was just the end of September! Today in February 2025, I hear the I-40 west connector to Tennessee should be open for 2 lanes of traffic at 40 mph by March 1. People are saying on TV it's thanks to Trump.

These routes being cut off meant supplies were difficult to come from outside areas...FEMA and other charities like World Central Kitchen did arrive and set up distribution sites. People were requested to bring their chain saws to help with clearing debris that was left all over roads.

So major transportation and utilities were top problems, as well as somehow helping people who lived either on the sides of mountains, or back in coves that were cut off from any help. Did you ever think what your life would be like if you had no water to flush your toilet, for weeks!

People started bringing buckets to swimming pools (closed for the season) and taking home whatever they could carry in order to flush. And when some water was finally available through the pipes that had been repaired, it was only useable for flushing. The source of our water, the Asheville reservoir had turbulence of all the clays that had washed into it...and it became a major problem for around a month to try to get the water to be clear enough for drinking. Nobody had expected that!

Well, I've gotten way off track now. And I already blogged a bunch with photos of some of the damage. I was always on line when living in exile at John's and then Martha's houses. So I saved photos that I saw. I kept abreast of the situation about as good as if I were home. But since there wasn't potable water yet, I was glad to not go home until I had electric power and could flush. 

I didn't want to haul drinking water in plastic bottles by the case to be able to have good water. It ended up that I did keep using those plastic  bottles for the next few months anyway. And I even have a stash of them still...for the next time.

I do hope there won't be a next time.

The ad from Science Moms about climate change (below) that was aired on Super Bowl Sunday.

Today's quote:

Beautiful young people are accidents of nature, but beautiful old people are works of art.

-Eleanor Roosevelt, diplomat and writer (1884-1962)

Today's art:

Afloat Poppy by Under my Umbrella blog  

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