Climate costs

Global average increases in temperature of two to three degrees may not seem completely unmanageable at first, but it means that the extremes of temperature will get that much worse

It is now official: 2017 was the second warmest year on record. I have always thought it a pity that this news about the previous year’s record-setting warming comes in while most of the northern hemisphere is suffering through frigid Januaries; it doesn’t seem to receive the attention that it deserves. But this is just another reminder of the way in which climate change is real, and already affecting our lives.

Climate change operates at exactly the wrong pace for policy makers. It is happening fast enough that we will see real changes over our lifetimes — real, problematic changes.