Image by Getty and Unsplash+.
Climate tipping points are critical thresholds that trigger unstoppable shifts to another state. The global climate system is full of teetering tipping points that collectively threaten the climate system with radical change. But it’s the change itself, the transition to a tipping point, that is most chaotic. This is climate free fall in America today, dangerously exposing the country to risks overlooked by policy decision-makers.
Climate free fall has been identified by Anders Kevernann, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Germany, Professor of the Dynamics of the Climate System at Institute for Physics and Astrophysics: “The planet is heading for climate free fall, a period where increasingly erratic weather will stress global supply chains, spike insurance losses, and undermine the financial stability modern economies depend on. The greatest economic risks lie not at the endpoint of climate change, but in how we get there.” (Climate Free Fall: Scientists Warn of Hidden Economic Crisis, Earth’s Systems Become Dangerously Unstable, Earth Climate, July 18, 2026)
America’s Climate Free Fall
America is already experiencing a chaotic climate system that’s effectively climate free fall.
As of July 14, 2026, 46.47% of the Lower States are in drought. (Source: Drought.gov and National Centers for Environmental Information). Drought in the Lower States is an astonishing 40% worse than the ~33% drought index for the world which itself is triple the global drought index of 10-12% in the year 2000.
Nearly one-third (1/3rd) of the planet is afflicted with drought as climate change-driven heat pulls moisture from soils and plants at unprecedented rates.
Flash floods- The National Weather Service issued double the number of flash flood warnings, totaling 3,600 in 2025, versus the year 2000: “The dramatic escalation in flash flooding over the last quarter-century is driven by a warming atmosphere holding more moisture, resulting in extreme, high-intensity thunderstorms,” because too much fossil fuel CO2 brings too much atmospheric heat.
Capitalism measures success and failure in dollars, to wit: In 2025 the US experienced “twenty-three (23) billion-dollar weather disasters” at a total cost of $115 billion. In the year 2000 there were “three (3) billion-dollar disasters.” The year 2025 included a record-setting number of (1) severe storms (2) hail events (3) tornadoes. This is climate free fall on steroids. (Trump has discontinued the government’s tracking of billion-dollar climate disasters. The public doesn’t need to know how much damage is caused by climate change.)
Monetary matters have become a key factor with climate change. It’s well documented that major home insurers in America have been fleeing coastal states and/or raising rates or dropping coverage for homeowners due to a whole new slate of climate risks, like unprecedented massive wildfires in California and Oklahoma and Utah and Alaska and Nebraska and Colorado and Florida, examples of chaotic climate change at severe levels never previously experienced in American history. This climate juggernaut increasingly threatens several aspects of American life.
“There is a growing body of research connecting extreme weather, exacerbated by climate change, to insurance price increases. A US Treasury Department analysis of more that 243 million home policies, released in January 2025, concluded that communities routinely affected by severe weather were paying substantially more than those that were not.” (US Home Insurance Prices Set to Keep Rising with Severe Weather, Bloomberg, March 18, 2026)
And this headline in the DC Report d/d July 19, 2026, says it all: “An Extreme Heat Wave: The Hottest Temperatures in History Occurring All Over the Country.” Meteorologist and Director of Climate Matters, Bernadette Woods Placky, told CNN, “Earth is screaming at us right now and people need to listen.”
But America’s energy policies, ignoring the US Treasury analysis and not listening to Bernadette, favor fossil fuels oil, gas, coal that emit gigatons of CO2 largely responsible for climate free fall, to wit: “Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the single largest driver of the erratic and extreme weather changes in the U.S. By trapping heat in the atmosphere, elevated (CO2) alters global atmospheric circulation and disrupts historical weather patterns.” (Source: NOAA – National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)
What Happens if Climate Free Fall Gets Worse, Not Better?
Alas, America is blindly cranking up climate free fall by destroying clean energy sources in favor of filthy, harmful fossil fuels, like coal. If climate free fall gets worse, the listed consequences above will be small shadows of the above-listed scenarios. How else interpret the administration’s policy behavior? See more about this growing tragedy for the country further on in this text.
“Tipping points in climate science are well-defined: they occur when a series of interlinked changes amplify one another until the whole system becomes unstable and shifts uncontrollably into a different state. Loss of sea ice at the poles, for example, reduces the amount of sunlight reflected into space, further heating Earth’s surface, which then accelerates ice loss—a vicious cycle that defines the tipping process.” (Anders Kevernann)
Climate free fall instability is already evident throughout the world, for example, roughly 33% of global land surface is in drought versus 10-12% in 2000. That’s a tripling of average global drought in only 25 years. This is worldwide climate free fall in earnest. Hence, the economic impact for food production and habitability is threatened well before exceeding tipping points.
The highest risk periods for the world economic systems occur during the big transition period to tipping points: “The period between passing the tipping temperature and reaching the full tipping point—when system collapse becomes inevitable—is when weather fluctuations increase most dramatically. This transition could unfold over decades, creating a prolonged period of economic disruption.” (Anders Kevernann)
Tipping points are triggered by “temperatures” beyond pre-industrial. For example, ‘temperature trigger points’ for key ecosystems, Source: Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research: (1) Greenland Ice Sheet triggers at 1.5C (2) Arctic Winter Sea Ice 4.5C (3) Boreal Permafrost 4C (4) West Antarctic Ice Sheet 1.5C (5) East Antarctic Ice Sheet 7.5C (6) East Antarctica Subglacial Basins 3C, (7) AMOC 4C (8) Labrador-Irminger Sea Convection 1.8C (9) Amazon Rainforest 3.5C.
As outlined, some of the most vulnerable, most impactful climate systems are already knocking on the door. The consequences for sea level rise could be devastating, catching society unaware, unprepared.
Clean Energy Darkness and Absurd Threats to Society
“Trump administration policies that scaled back federal support for clean energy have led to the cancellation or delay of $83 billion in investment across hundreds of projects, according to a report released on Tuesday by labor and environmental coalition BlueGreen Alliance. The analysis found that 223 manufacturing and clean energy projects representing $82.9 billion in investment and 111,765 jobs have stalled or been cancelled during President Donald Trump’s second presidency.” (Trump Cut to Clean Energy Linked to $83 Billion in Delayed or Canceled Projects, Reuters, July 16, 2026)
Additionally, according to Sierra d/d June 14, 2026: US Faces Triple Threat of Climate Crisis, Economic Hardship, and Donald Trump: “In addition to staffing and budget cuts at NOAA—affecting offices like the National Weather Service and the National Hurricane Center—the administration has targeted satellite infrastructure and data used for weather and hurricane forecasting, scrapped the scientists working on the next National Climate Assessment, and discontinued the government’s tracking of billion-dollar climate disasters. It has also taken aim at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, considered ‘the crown jewel’ of climate science.”
The National Center for Atmospheric Research (“NCAR”) is the “primary go-to source” for international science. NCAR serves (1) actuaries and reinsurers (2) the aviation industry (3) emergency managers (4) utilities and power grid planners (5) as well as thousands of scientists in diverse fields internationally. It’s world renown for cutting-edge statistics. The entire world of science and business depends upon its accuracy. Any level of loss of NCAR would be considered an international tragedy.
“With disaster preparedness and response, experts say the administration has severely undermined the Federal Emergency Management Authority through deep staffing and budget cuts, delays on aid delivery and even politicization of disaster response. Trump’s proposed FY 2027 budget includes axing $1.3 billion in FEMA funds for state and local emergency preparedness. And according to Climate Power, the US is entering this hurricane season with the smallest disaster workforce since 2021,” Ibid.
“Climate free fall” lands with a thud at the feet of an ill-prepared, dumbfounded Trump administration.
No comments:
Post a Comment