An Asteroid is Approaching Earth: What is Your Politician Doing to Prevent the Worst Impacts?

Humans have been sending space probes to the farthest reaches of our solar system for many years now. Unfortunately, doing so has caused a large asteroid to be nudged out of its orbit. 97% of the world’s astronomy experts and 100% of all astronomical organizations agree that humans have caused this asteroid to be nudged out of orbit and that asteroid is going to impact planet Earth. In fact, smaller pieces of this asteroid are already affecting us in negative ways and will continue to worsen.

Source: Science News (2017)

But more than just astronomers are concerned. Below are some statements from health experts, military experts, and financial experts about the dangers to society of this asteroid:

“The asteroid is a global health emergency. The asteroid threatens to undo decades of health and development gains and is the greatest public health challenge of the 21st century.” – National Medical Association (NMA), 2018

“The asteroid is affecting the health of Americans. As the impact continues to change, the risks to human health will grow, exacerbating existing health threats and creating new public health challenges.” – National Institutes of Health (NIH), 2016

“The asteroid, together with other natural and human-made health stressors, influences human health and disease in numerous ways. Some existing health threats will intensify and new health threats will emerge.” – Center for Disease Control (CDC) 2016

“The asteroid is the defining issue for the 21st century. According to WHO estimates, the asteroid is already causing tens of thousands of deaths every year – from shifting patterns of disease, from extreme weather events, such as heat-waves and floods, and from the degradation of air quality, food and water supplies, and sanitation.” – World Health Organization (WHO) 2015

“The FY2018 National Defense Authorization Act, which includes in “SEC. 335. REPORT ON EFFECTS OF ASTEROID IMPACTS ON DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE” a recognition that the asteroid presents a direct threat to national security, and requests a report from the Dept. of Defense on how the asteroid affects its overall mission – including the top ten most asteroid-vulnerable military sites.” – Department of Defense (2017)

“The asteroid poses another significant challenge for the United States and the world at large. Sea levels are rising, average global temperatures are increasing, and severe weather patterns are accelerating. These changes, coupled with other global dynamics, including growing, urbanizing, more affluent populations, and substantial economic growth in India, China, Brazil, and other nations, will devastate homes, land, and infrastructure. The asteroid may exacerbate water scarcity and lead to sharp increases in food costs. The pressures caused by the asteroid will influence resource competition while placing additional burdens on economies, societies, and governance institutions around the world. These effects are threat multipliers that will aggravate stressors abroad such as poverty, environmental degradation, political instability, and social tensions – conditions that can enable terrorist activity and other forms of violence.” – Department of Defense (2014)

“The asteroid presents a serious threat to the security and prosperity of the United States and other countries. Recent actions and statements by members of Congress, members of the UN Security Council, and retired U.S. military officers have drawn attention to the consequences of the asteroid, including the destabilizing effects of storms, droughts, and floods. Domestically, the effects of the asteroid could overwhelm disaster-response capabilities. Internationally, the asteroid may cause humanitarian disasters, contribute to political violence, and undermine weak governments.” – Council on Foreign Relations (2007)

Disclosure of the asteroid is important because of the potential impact the asteroid can have on insurer solvency and the availability and affordability of insurance across all major categories. Munich Re found that weather related losses have increased nearly fourfold in the United States since 1980. According to a study by Munich Re, extreme weather events (such as prolonged droughts, hurricanes, floods, and severe storms) led to $560 billion in insured losses from 1980 to 2015. Experts predict the asteroid will continue to intensify the frequency and severity of these types of weather related events. Given these trends, it is important for insurers to identify asteroid-related factors and evaluate how they will impact their business and the exposures they indemnify. – National Association of Insurance Commissioners (2018)

“The asteroid represents an urgent and potentially irreversible threat to human societies and the planet… If unchecked, the asteroid threatens the customers, the communities and the environment on which HSBC’s business has been built over 150 years. If HSBC is to successfully help people to fulfil their hopes and realise their ambitions, it has an important role to play in combating the asteroid.” – HSBC Bank (2016)

“Several leading studies indicate that the systemic shocks to regional and global economies from the asteroid will be substantial and will worsen the longer world governments wait to take sufficient policy action.” – 268 investors – both asset owners and asset managers – that collectively represent assets of over US$15 trillion. (2010)

Of course, wouldn’t you expect your elected officials to take this threat seriously?

Wouldn’t you assume they were doing everything humanly possible to avoid this disaster?

Would you ever vote for a politician who thought the asteroid was a hoax or who accepted that the asteroid is coming but voted to dismantle all defenses that have been built against it for the past few decades?

Of course, you would NOT knowingly vote for any politician who refused to listen to our experts from science, health, military, and finances.

Guess what? Many of you did vote for some of those politicians but I will assume it is because you were unaware of the existential threat of this asteroid and you were unaware of their negligence to act to defend you against that threat.

Source: NASA (2018)

OK, I confess. There is no asteroid about to hit Earth. However, EVERY statement above is a REAL STATEMENT where I just removed the phrase “climate change” and replaced it with “the asteroid”. Below are the actual unedited statements when I switch asteroid back to climate change:

“Climate change is a global health emergency. Climate change threatens to undo decades of health and development gains and is the greatest public health challenge of the 21st century.”

National Medical Association (NMA), 2018: (https://www.nmanet.org/news/420495/A-Call-to-Action-on-Climate-and-Health.htm)

“Climate change is affecting the health of Americans. As the climate continues to change, the risks to human health will grow, exacerbating existing health threats and creating new public health challenges.”

National Institutes of Health (NIH), 2016: (https://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/topics/agents/climate-change/index.cfm)

“Climate change, together with other natural and human-made health stressors, influences human health and disease in numerous ways. Some existing health threats will intensify and new health threats will emerge.”

Center for Disease Control (CDC) 2016: (https://www.cdc.gov/climateandhealth/effects/)

“Climate change is the defining issue for the 21st century. According to WHO estimates, climate change is already causing tens of thousands of deaths every year – from shifting patterns of disease, from extreme weather events, such as heat-waves and floods, and from the degradation of air quality, food and water supplies, and sanitation.”

World Health Organization (WHO) 2015: (http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/statements/2015/climate-change/en/)

“The FY2018 National Defense Authorization Act, which includes in “SEC. 335. REPORT ON EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE” a recognition that climate change presents a direct threat to national security, and requests a report from the Dept. of Defense on how climate change affects its overall mission – including the top ten most climate-vulnerable military sites.”

Department of Defense (2017): https://climateandsecurity.org/2017/11/22/defense-bill-passes-with-climate-change-and-national-security-provision/

“Climate change poses another significant challenge for the United States and the world at large. As greenhouse gas emissions increase, sea levels are rising, average global temperatures are increasing, and severe weather patterns are accelerating. These changes, coupled with other global dynamics, including growing, urbanizing, more affluent populations, and substantial economic growth in India, China, Brazil, and other nations, will devastate homes, land, and infrastructure. Climate change may exacerbate water scarcity and lead to sharp increases in food costs. The pressures caused by climate change will influence resource competition while placing additional burdens on economies, societies, and governance institutions around the world. These effects are threat multipliers that will aggravate stressors abroad such as poverty, environmental degradation, political instability, and social tensions – conditions that can enable terrorist activity and other forms of violence.”

Department of Defense (2014): https://climateandsecurity.org/2014/03/04/climate-change-and-national-security-in-the-2014-quadrennial-defense-review/

“Climate change presents a serious threat to the security and prosperity of the United States and other countries. Recent actions and statements by members of Congress, members of the UN Security Council, and retired U.S. military officers have drawn attention to the consequences of climate change, including the destabilizing effects of storms, droughts, and floods. Domestically, the effects of climate change could overwhelm disaster-response capabilities. Internationally, climate change may cause humanitarian disasters, contribute to political violence, and undermine weak governments.”

Council on Foreign Relations (2007): https://www.cfr.org/report/climate-change-and-national-security

Disclosure of climate risk is important because of the potential impact climate change can have on insurer solvency and the availability and affordability of insurance across all major categories. Munich Re found that weather related losses have increased nearly fourfold in the United States since 1980. According to a study by Munich Re, extreme weather events (such as prolonged droughts, hurricanes, floods, and severe storms) led to $560 billion in insured losses from 1980 to 2015. Experts predict climate change will continue to intensify the frequency and severity of these types of weather related events. Given these trends, it is important for insurers to identify climate-related factors and evaluate how they will impact their business and the exposures they indemnify.

National Association of Insurance Commissioners (2018): https://www.naic.org/cipr_topics/topic_climate_risk_disclosure.htm

“Climate change represents an urgent and potentially irreversible threat to human societies and the planet, a threat recognised by the 184 countries that have signed the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change. If unchecked, climate change threatens the customers, the communities and the environment on which HSBC’s business has been built over 150 years. If HSBC is to successfully help people to fulfil their hopes and realise their ambitions, it has an important role to play in combating climate change.”

HSBC Bank (2016): https://www.hsbc.com/-/media/hsbc-com/our-approach/sustainability/pdf/hsbc-statement-on-climate-change-oct16.pdf

“Several leading studies indicate that the systemic shocks to regional and global economies from climate change will be substantial and will worsen the longer world governments wait to take sufficient policy action.”

268 investors – both asset owners and asset managers – that collectively represent assets of over US$15 trillion. (2010): http://www.unepfi.org/fileadmin/documents/InvestorStatement_ClimateChange.pdf

Virtually all climate science experts (97-98%) and ALL international academies of sciences (US National Academies of Science, Britain’s Royal Society, etc.) agree that humans are warming the planet at a dangerous pace and if we continue to do so we greatly increase risks to society and nature. This planetary warming is mostly caused by burning coal and natural gas for electricity and by burning oil for home heating and transportation. We cannot continue to use these old technology “whale oils” when we have cleaner and cheaper higher-tech energy alternatives.

Where does your politician stand on climate change action given that climate change is a huge threat to society? You can always Google your politician’s name followed by “climate change” or simply go to this voting scorecard website.

You can choose “Climate Change” from the issues menu to isolate their voting record on this incredibly important issue.

Here is the scorecard for my Representative:

(100% is the goal if wishing to protect our resources and to address climate change. An X is a vote against climate action):

Rep. Lee Zeldin (NY-1) does not take this threat seriously. Given that he is a veteran and campaigns with the slogan “Vote for a Vet”, one wonders why he does not listen to his own military and intelligence experts?

I cannot vote for Lee Zeldin on November 5, 2018. How can I vote for a person who ignores the serious warnings from scientific, health, military, and financial experts? Aren’t our politicians supposed to use the best available evidence and expert advice to create policy that keeps us safe from threats? As a father and a husband, I must vote against any person who ignores these experts and increases risks to my family.

So why do politicians like Donald Trump and Lee Zeldin refuse to listen to our experts? I have a blog post titled Communicating Climate Change: Sometimes It’s Not about the Science that explains that politicians like Trump and Zeldin think climate change might result in loss of individual rights or hurt the economy. It is because of these perceived threats that they subconsciously resist the settled science. In a recent Patch post titled A Vote For Lee Zeldin Jeopardizes Your Child’s Health and Safety, I show how inaction costs TRILLIONS of dollars to the US and the world while climate action SAVES us money. People who support these two are voting against their own self-interest but are likely unaware that they are doing so.

Use your voice. Talk to your friends about what you have learned here.

Vote.

Vote for those who respect our experts.