Development

Though the images of abandoned cars in waterlogged East Coast streets might make you think otherwise, the relative toll that floods take on the U.S.—in property and lives—has decreased over time. Flooding costs as a share of gross domestic product declined almost 10-fold since 1903 to 0.05% of GDP, while annual flood death risk—fatalities per million—dropped almost threefold. World-wide data are sparser, but flood research shows costs relative to GDP and deaths relative to population have decreased globally from 1980 to 2010.

Hurricane season has arrived in the Atlantic Ocean. Already this summer Hurricanes Henri and Ida have caused headline-generating damage and flooding in the Gulf states, the Southeast and the Middle Atlantic states. Yet despite what you may have heard, Atlantic hurricanes are not becoming more frequent. In fact, the frequency of hurricanes making landfall in the continental U.S. has declined slightly since 1900.

Lomborg discussed US President Biden's executive order declaring that half of all new cars sold by 2030 must be electric on Fox and Friends.

Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it. That old quip, often attributed to Mark Twain or his friend Charles Dudley Warner, now guides most news coverage of severe weather. The media say that natural disasters are a result of climate change and we need to adopt radical policies to combat them.

Saying out loud what many people already think about electric cars, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s climate spokeswoman, Allegra Stratton, has received a lot of green flak. She says she’s not yet willing to trade in her old diesel car for a sparkling new electric, because it is inconvenient for her driving needs. In her honesty, Ms Stratton has highlighted the elitist illusion of much green thinking.

Our current climate conversation embodies two blatantly contradictory claims. On one side, experts warn that promised climate policies will be economically crippling. In a new report, the International Energy Agency (IEA) states that achieving net-zero in 2050 will likely be “the greatest challenge humankind has ever faced.” That is a high bar, surpassing World War II, the black plague and Covid.

In an interview with Stuart Varney on the Fox Business Network, Bjorn Lomborg discusses these claims based on findings from his latest book False Alarm.* He argues that despite climate change, humanity will still be much better off at the conclusion of the century and presents smart strategies to tackle the problem.

Apesar da intensa preocupação com o clima, os eleitores têm mostrado baixa disposição para gastar os trilhões que permitiriam um corte drástico nas emissões de gases.

Wohlmeinende Aktivisten versuchen, den Klimaschutz auf Kosten aller anderen erstrebenswerten Ziele zu erzwingen.

Apesar de la intensa preocupación por el clima, los electores no han estado dispuestos a gastar los billones necesarios para reducir drásticamente las emisiones. Por ello, los defensores del clima han recurrido cada vez más a una nueva estrategia: forzar la política climática a través de los tribunales de justicia.