Remember “Snowmageddon” last month? Although climate change deniers seized on the record snowfall as evidence refuting climate change, anyone who has actually read some of the science knows how ridiculous this type of reasoning is (long story short, it boils down to 4 main points: 1) short term local weather is different than long term global climate 2) Record temperatures for the year and decade just as easily prove climate change as record snowfall in one season “disproves” it 3) Scientists have long predicted increased storms as a result of warming, as climate change models show stronger extremes in all types of weather 4) Snowmageddon was partly due to increased precipitation, not just lower temperature).
Now, thanks to the Federal Reserve, we learn that this winter season is a great example of the negative impacts that increased extreme weather events can have on the economy. According to Barron’s and the Wall Street Journal, the Fed’s Beige Book (a report comprised of anecdotal evidence about economic conditions complied by the Fed’s 12 regional banks) references the adverse effects of weather, characterized by the storms, over 40 times in 50 pages — much, much higher than previous reports. Plenty of authors have written about the potential economic impacts of climate change, but rarely do events so clearly crystallize both sides of the debate and provide evidence for what future problems may look like.
