The massive winter storms surging through California this January have affected most Californians. However, not everyone is aware of exactly how deadly they are. According to Axios, at least 22 storm-related deaths have been confirmed. Evidence from the New York Times suggests that climate change is responsible for an increased risk of storms of this intensity, which is yet another reason why the US government needs to take responsibility and put more effort into fighting climate change.
Even without climate change intensifying California’s storms and floods, the California government needs to make changes such as constructing new places to hold floodwater in order to better control floods and using such water more efficiently during periods of drought.
Although extra rainwater may seem like a good thing for drought-ridden California, this large amount of water does damage, especially when left uncontrolled. These recent storms bear some resemblance to previous California storms, but according to Raymond Zhong from the New York Times, “their unrelenting pace” makes them much more dangerous. In fact, according to the LA Times, California Gov. Gavin Newsom said that more deaths have resulted from these storms than from California wildfires in the past two years.
Since this storm has progressed faster than previous ones, scientists have been further researching climate change’s role in these more dangerous storms. This topic is still being researched, but it has been found that climate change can increase a storm’s strength. According to the New York Times, the warmer air caused by climate change can “hold more moisture,” meaning California and other states are likely to be “extremely wet and intense.” Californians can surely expect more catastrophic storms in the future.
It has already been discovered that the risk for a storm of this intensity has doubled and that the weather is “more variable and intense,” due to climate change. Therefore, it is not surprising that climate change is likely causing faster, more dangerous storms. However, this information means that serious change needs to be made in order to decrease the risk of more deadly storms in the future.
Due to these storms, 22 people have died and many more may follow. Climate change is no longer a threat looming in the distant future. It is harming and killing people today. Even if research finds that the effect climate change has on storms is miniscule, it is still worth it to do everything we can to save as many lives as possible.
While action on an individual level can help — such as following tips from the United Nations — adjustments need to occur on a larger scale in order for the world to actually win the fight against climate change. This responsibility needs to fall on the U.S. government, and they need to hold corporations accountable by limiting their carbon emissions. Rather than blaming individuals who are doing their best to do their part, the blame needs to be put on the companies that profit off of destroying our planet.
Climate change is not the only thing making these storms and floods so destructive, though. According to George Skelton from the LA Times, terrible droughts and floods would still affect California “even if all the energy we used was carbon free.” This does not mean that climate change is irrelevant to the topic of disastrous storms in the western U.S., but rather that there are other problems that need to also be addressed alongside climate change.
Another issue is that California is not properly capturing and storing flood water. If put into practice, it would help control the flow of water that has caused mass flooding and resulted in numerous deaths as well as store water for use during drought periods.
If this would be so beneficial, why is it not already in practice? According to the LA Times, problems range from extremely high costs to farmers and environmentalists worrying that they’d also be “seizing water during dry summers and droughts, leaving the delta saltier.” There is also the factor that building more storage proves difficult, as California has already used up most of the viable sites by placing dams there. Regardless of the difficulty, the California government needs to allocate more resources for this in order to prevent flood and drought damage. Too many people have died and California will continue to face brutal storms, so we must find answers immediately.
Lindsey Blake is an Opinion Intern for the winter 2023 quarter. She can be reached at lgblake@uci.edu.
