Every year mankind is confronted with natural and man-made disasters.
Fire. Floods. Pestilence. War. Famine. Extreme heat. Earthquakes.
This year seems different. The natural disasters seem more apocalyptic. With the exception of earthquakes, humans have unleashed disasters of multiple impact.
Years of unheeded global-warming warnings, and the Trump administration’s eager efforts to act in defiance of scientific evidence, are now fueling catastrophes that merge in their combined assault on humanity.
Water has been the mainstay of news stories day after day, for weeks, nay, month after month, this year.
Water. Too much of it. Too little of it. Dramatic, pulsating views of its destructive power throughout the Midwest and Southeast. In our nation’s heartland, cars and homes float along rivers engorged by torrential volumes of rain far exceeding daily historical norms.
Meanwhile, residents of the western United States swelter under droughts and heat domes as their parched states go up in flames.
And yet, Americans continue to migrate to the water-challenged Southwest.
Across the Atlantic the water story is one of drought. The Danube and Rhine rivers in many places have been so water-depleted that boats cannot sail them. Americans mostly know them as vacation venues for scenic riverboat cruises.
A river cruise with no water to traverse is a bus ride. Instead of unpacking belongings once and living in one stateroom for a trip’s duration, when a river is unnavigable passengers have to disembark with their luggage and take motor coaches to a point along the river where they can board another boat. There is no certainty this exercise will happen just once.
More importantly, the shallow depths of the Danube and Rhine are jeopardizing commercial activity throughout Europe. Goods, including raw materials, finished products and agricultural produce intended for world markets, cannot be guaranteed to be moved by the lower-cost river option.
The troubled water route and Ukraine’s war with Russia also contribute to famine in Third World countries dependent on Ukraine’s wheat and fertilizer. Russia has increased its targeting of Ukrainian naval grain shipments.
A global marketplace has superseded most home-grown agriculture. Outbreaks of salmonella poisoning, Listeria contaminations and Cyclospora infections impact millions, not just isolated communities as in years past.
A common thread throughout all of these catastrophes is the seeming ambivalence and even the complicity of the Trump administration. Trump’s war with Iran and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz affect the shipping of some 20% of global fertilizer.
Trump ended U.S. participation in the World Health Organization and has sharply cut back U.S. Agriculture Department funding for farmers, food banks, climate and conservation programs, and meals for schoolchildren.
Trump has failed to announce a coordinated response to fires in the West and flooding in the Midwest. He gutted FEMA, the federal emergency management administration.
Americans are reaping what he sowed in his MAGA-inspired rush to cut what he considered excessive budget expenses while reducing taxes on the wealthy.
