Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

EDITORIAL:

Drought, hurricane season demand action on climate change

As Las Vegas endures a record dry spell of 210 days and counting, a record hurricane season continues to unfold in the Atlantic Ocean.

In these two extremes lies another alarming snapshot of the effects of climate change, which is amplifying some natural weather patterns, disrupting others and exacting a catastrophic toll on lives and property across the board.

The results include longer strings of hurricanes and typhoons, and more powerful ones. The Atlantic hurricane season hit unprecedented heights this past week when the 29th named storm was born and conditions for a 30th one began to take shape. By the time you’re reading this, that 30th storm — Iota — may well be churning. A normal year produces just 12 named storms.

Meanwhile, in Southern Nevada and elsewhere in the Southwest, the effects include longer droughts and hotter temperatures.

The current dry spell in Las Vegas comes just three years after the city went 116 days without rain, from September 2017 to January 2018. We’re accustomed to getting very little rain — a smidge over 4 inches per year on average — but this is extreme. And granted, parts of the valley have received rainfall during this year’s dry spell, but the precipitation has been so hit-and-miss that there hasn’t been a recordable amount at the official weather station at McCarran International Airport since April 20.

We’ve also experienced abnormal heat this year, including the second-longest streak of triple-digit temperatures since records started being kept in the region. Nearby in Death Valley, it hit 130 degrees in August, among the top three highest temperatures ever recorded on the planet.

Needless to say, it’s critical to address this issue. In addition to an escalating threat of heat-related illnesses and deaths, our water supply is under increasing strain as the seemingly endless drought grips the entire Colorado River region. Lake Mead is at just 40% capacity and is expected to begin 2021 just 10 feet above a level that would prompt more cuts to Nevada’s allotment of water from the reservoir.

Against that disturbing backdrop though, the 2020 presidential election offers some reason for optimism. President-elect Joe Biden’s top priorities include undoing President Donald Trump’s disastrous rollbacks of climate safeguards and pursuing a $1.7 trillion plan to boost clean energy and produce green jobs.

A report issued this past week said Biden’s plan, if fully implemented, could put the Paris climate accord’s goal of reducing global warming by 1.5 degrees Celsius by the end of the century “within striking distance.” Currently, the planet is on a path to warm by 2.7 degrees Celsius by 2100, which scientists say will further turbocharge the severe weather phenomena we’re experiencing today.

But the report — issued by Climate Action Tracker, a nonprofit analysis group that studies government climate actions — said that for Biden’s plan to have a meaningful impact, the United States would have to achieve his pledge to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. It will also be necessary for other industrialized nations to achieve similar goals.

With so much at stake, congressional Republicans owe it to the American people to work constructively on this issue. They should also know that voters are expecting them to drop their opposition on the issue — the enormous turnout for Biden is all the indicator they should need.

Undoubtedly, Biden’s stance on climate was a key reason for the outpouring of support for his campaign. This is an issue facing every American: coastal residents who are increasingly at risk from sea-level rise and hurricanes, midwesterners enduring historic flooding, northerners gripped by unprecedented winter storms, westerners afflicted with cataclysmic wildfires, etc.

Biden can undo some of Trump’s damage on his own — including by bringing the U.S. back into the Paris accords, which he plans to do immediately — but he’ll need cooperation from the GOP in order to make truly meaningful progress.

The clock is ticking. Or, in the case of Las Vegas, the calendar is turning as our epic dry spell plows through its unprecedented seventh month.