Greenhouse Gases Coming Home to Roost

The media is reporting on the devastation that Hurricane Harvey is causing in Texas, but they do not mention that global warming has made the disaster worse.

Hurricanes get their energy from the heat of the ocean, and the waters of the Gulf of Mexico are about 5 degrees warmer than usual because of global warming.  In addition, warmer air can hold more water, which means heavier rains. So, global warming has given us a fiercer, more destructive storm, with higher winds and more rain.

Texas does much more than its share to cause global warming.  The average Texan emits 26.29 tons of carbon dioxide per year.  The average Californian emits 9.26 tons, less than half as much.  And the average person worldwide emits 4 tons.

Texas has always resisted attempts to control global warming and has voted for climate deniers.  Fossil fuels are a mainstay of its economy, and the hurricane is headed for Houston, a center of America's oil and gas industry.

The chickens are coming home to roost. There will be much more destructive storms in a few decades unless we wake up and make an intense effort to control greenhouse gas emissions.