Experiencing climate change
This long weekend (US Independence Day) we spent some time with family in north California which also coincided with a heat wave.
Temperatures in California were in the 40+ C reaching almost 47 during the day. An excessive heat warning was declared for 30+ million people or over 10% of the US population. At such a scale, there is nowhere to go and at the same time all you can do is hunker down and try to remain cool.
At the same time, given the dry summer and heat it is easy for fires to break out. The live map snapshot from fire.ca.gov below shows multiple active fires.
At such temperatures systems fail in interesting ways. Our air conditioner for the house was providing cooling, but still in high 30’s C. Only at night did temperatures reduce enough to be pleasant. Hence we were constantly trying to avoid the heat throughout a major portion of the day. In older (or historic) homes with insufficient insulation, this can be a major issue. Solar panels actually operate efficiently at about 25 C. Hence at higher temperatures there is actually a reduction in electricity generated. The risk of a grid failure with many people depending on air conditioners to effectively survive will just increase.
Extreme weather events like these are getting more common now. Climate systems are slow changing. Hence we should expect the frequency and impact of such events to only increase. The cascading loss of not only human productivity but also essentials like water, crops, animal and natural life is going to be devastating. Rich countries like the US which have vast resources will be able to weather the change. Poorer countries like India will need to take aggressive steps today to tackle basics like water security.
Coal consumption especially for energy is only increasing though. The Indian growth engine will be stalled unless solutions are not found.
Unfortunately it seems that humanity is making earth inhabitable faster than we can make mars habitable. Denying climate change is harder now, but taking collective action seems as impossible as before.