What a relief that climate change doesn't really exist

As we've sweltered through this terrible summer – and lately, as bushfires have raged – what a comfort it's been to know that climate change doesn't exist and isn't happening.

The Sir Ivan bushfire started east of Duneedoo in the
 NSW Central tablelands on a day that NSW fire
 authorities classified as catastrophic.CREDIT:

Or, if it does exist, it's not caused by anything humans have done, so there's nothing we can do about it.

Or, if it is caused by humans burning fossil fuels for the past 200 years, let's say we've got a policy to deal with it, go to international conferences and make pledges to act, then come home and not do much about it.

That way, we'll have all bases covered: something to calm the consciences of those still silly enough to believe climate change is real, but not enough to annoy the party's many climate change deniers, nor our generous donors in the coal industry.

Read the comment by Ross Gittins from The Canberra Times - “What a relief that climate change doesn't really exist.”

Costs of Climate Change: Early Estimate for Hurricanes, Fires Reaches $300 Billion

The devastation from hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria—plus dozens of wildfires that raged across the West in early August—could result in the costliest string of weather events in U.S. history, according to a new report.

Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria hit U.S. communities and farms
 as powerful storms within weeks of one another, causing
 extensive damage to public and private property.

Over the course of a few weeks, the hurricanes and wildfires left a trail of damage that could add up to nearly $300 billion, according to early estimates from the authors of "The Economic Case for Climate Action in the United States," a report released on Wednesday by the nonprofit Universal Ecological Fund. If they're right, the cost of the damage would be equivalent to nearly half the president's proposed 2018 budget for the Department of Defense.

"The evidence is undeniable. These recent extreme weather events are a continuation of a three-decades trend of increasing numbers, intensities and costs of severe storms, hurricanes, flooding, droughts and wildfires," said report co-author Robert Watson, a former chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. "Simply, the more fossil fuels we burn, the faster the climate continues to change and cost. Thus, transitioning to a low-carbon economy is essential for economic growth and is cheaper than the gigantic costs of inaction.”

Adding up the economic losses from extreme weather events, more frequent weather events and the health impacts from air pollution, the report found that over the last decade, the United States has lost an average of $240 billion each year. And that's projected to go up.

Read the Inside Climate News story - “Costs of Climate Change: Early Estimate for Hurricanes, Fires Reaches $300 Billion.”