In Texas, Another Tragic Warning on Climate Change
Re 'As Floodwaters Struck, Key Roles Were Unfilled at Local Weather Offices' (news article, July 7) and 'As the World Warms, Extreme Rain Is Becoming Even More Extreme' (news article, nytimes.com, July 5):
In view of the unfolding weather tragedy in Texas and the onset of hurricane season, it seems ironic that the administration has made cuts at the National Weather Service and is on track to discontinue weather data sharing with local entities.
In addition, the Defense Department is ending data sharing with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, in effect blinding predictions of local severe weather. As the administration is not forthcoming as to its reasons, we are left to conjecture while local first responders are cleaning up and finding bodies.
Could lives have been saved in Texas? Could lives be lost in the coming hurricane season because of lack of warnings? We may never know, but it's already past time for the media to start aggressively demanding explanations.
Howard SchmittGreen Tree, Pa.
To the Editor:
More than 80 people died this weekend — including at least 27 girls and staff members at Camp Mystic in Texas, who were swept away and drowned during a flash flood that tore through their campsite. A tragedy, yes. But not a surprise.
Climate disasters are no longer freakish occurrences. They're accelerating: more heat, more rain, more tornadoes, more lives lost. But Republicans continue to treat the environment as a nuisance — and science as optional. Chanting 'Drill, baby, drill' and making deep cuts at the National Weather Service and other climate data entities aren't policy. They're denial.
Gutting environmental regulations and cutting weather watch programs, as the Trump administration has already aggressively done, comes at a cost. And that cost is measured in lives, not dollars.
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