What will it take for climate change to become an election issue? Ok, lots of people don’t understand why the rapid disappearance of Arctic ice to its record low (and still melting) matters to them. (For a quick summary, try Why Arctic Ice Matters and the Arctic Ice Death Spiral. According to the Economist, there are benefits in the melting of the Arctic, but the risks and damages are much greater.)
But this year’s heat-induced crop failures are concrete and a lot closer to home. Crop failures cause rural misery and urban food price increases, which, according to an International Monetary Fund study, in turn feed violence and conflict, on top of the upsurge in violence that comes from blazing heat alone.
Why aren’t conservative voters concerned enough about this to take, and to demand, action? What else will it take?