In the first eight months of 2020, the U.S. has seen a deadly pandemic, early hurricanes and tropical storms, record heatwaves and more than 200 wildfires — and experts predict things are only going to go downhill from here.
“It’s going to get a lot worse,” says Georgia Tech climate scientist Kim Cobb. “I say that with emphasis because it does challenge the imagination. And that’s the scary thing to know as a climate scientist in 2020.” Waleed Abdalati, a former NASA scientist, agrees with Cobb. “I strongly believe we’re going to look back in 10 years, certainly 20 and definitely 50, and say, ‘Wow, 2020 was a crazy year, but I miss it,'” he says.
WORST YET TO COME?
“I strongly believe we’re going to look back in 10 years, certainly 20 and definitely 50 and say, ‘Wow, 2020 was a crazy year, but I miss it,’” said Waleed Abdalati, @NASA's former chief scientist. https://t.co/d6jKQ6DFYI— KPIX 5 (@KPIXtv) September 10, 2020
Scientists say the reason for increasingly worse events is a combination of climate change — caused by burning coal, oil and gas — and the natural evolution of Earth. “The outlook could not be any more grim,” Cobb says. “It’s just a horrifying prospect. The 2030s are going to be noticeably worse than the 2020s.”
Is it too late to stop things from getting worse? Would you say the quality of life in the U.S. is deteriorating way too fast?
