In Georgia, we have our own triple-whammy of climate change enhanced storms, drought, and wildfires. First, we had Hurricane Helene that downed trees, caused floods and power outages, and left piles of trees, branches, and debris all over southern Georgia. Then, we had a record-setting drought this winter and spring, the worst since records started being kept in 1895, and dried out all the piles of branches and debris. By the end of April, the entire state of Georgia was in severe, extreme, or exceptional drought. Then we had accidental sparks that set off 2 massive wildfires in the southern part of the state, totaling over 50,000 acres. Now, at the end of May, the fires are still not completely contained. Hundreds of families had to evacuate their homes. The Georgia Forestry spokesperson, Seth Hawkins, told AP reporters that “There’s a ton of old Hurricane Helene debris down in the woods. It’s lying around, and it’s just a tinderbox out there.”
In 2024, Hurricane Helene formed and rapidly intensified because water in the Gulf of Mexico was almost one degree Celsius hotter than normal. The Gulf was hotter because of climate change. Scientists estimate that climate change also increased the rain from Helene by 10% and made the winds about 10mph stronger than they would have been without human-caused climate change.
When children go through a storm like Helene, it has lasting impact on their health. In Georgia, 4 children died during Helene from trees falling on their houses. Many others were forced to evacuate to shelters or other cities. In addition to being injured or killed during the storm, being forced to evacuate a home is very traumatizing to children. It means a loss of a stable living place, loss of community, there’s no school for weeks, their whole lives are upended. That trauma continues to impact mental AND physical health for years after the event.
This is a quote from the National Academy of Medicine: “Children’s vulnerabilities to, and outcomes from, disasters differ from adults, and the effects of disasters on children profoundly impact society.”
Georgia’s children and families are experiencing evacuations, trauma, and disaster, from storms and wildfires and droughts that are made worse by climate change. Yet, some of our leaders in government and business don’t seem to see that this is happening. They press on with planning more fossil fuel power plants, keeping coal plants open longer, and building facilities that use intense amounts of energy. They think they can fool Mother Nature. But nature is governed by laws of physics, chemistry, and biology. Nature can’t be fooled, only we can if we stick our head in the sand and pretend to not see what is happening.
Everyday Georgians are paying with their health, wellbeing, and lives for our business and government leaders’ decisions. We are paying extra to recover from disastrous hurricanes and wildfires. We are paying extra on our power bills for fossil-fuel-produced electricity, when safer and cheaper renewables are available.
This year, Georgians get to vote for two Public Service Commissioners – they are the officials that help decide whether we keep using dirty, polluting fossil fuels or clean, renewable energy. What they decide affects our electric bills, our health, and our climate. Learn more about the PSC election and get ready to vote!
