Hello, and welcome to the first edition of Emergency, a limited term newsletter from Grist. My name is Zoya Teirstein, and I will be reporting on this project with my colleague Jake Bittle. We are glad you are here.
Data shows that while some voters rank climate change among their top political priorities, it rarely factors into their decisions on election day. More than anything else, the health of the economy – and, perhaps more importantly, voters’ perceptions of it – usually determines which candidates get the most votes. But that doesn’t mean climate change is completely absent from the ballot box.
“Disasters typically increase voter turnout. Either people are really pissed off or they’re excited – the government has actually come through for them.”
– Daniel Aldrich, a professor of political science at Northeastern University
Over the next few months, we’ll watch as extreme weather, exacerbated by human-caused global warming, has a transformative impact on elections—floods destroy polling places, wildfires displace voters, and long recovery delays erode trust in local and federal government. These disasters also disrupt daily routines, school schedules, household finances, even where people work and live, all of which in turn have profound effects up and down ballots across the United States and indeed the rest of the world.
Disasters affect politics in the rain-ravaged northern French countrysidethe flooded suburbs of southern Braziland the sun-scorched streets of Delhi. In communities across the United States, from deep red Louisiana to bright blue California, and in races from city councils to the US Senate, climate disasters are shaping elections, voting rights and political engagement.
Aerial view of a flooded area of Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil.
Nelson Almeida / AFP via Getty Images
We’ll bring you personal, narrative stories from the front lines of the disaster-politics intersection, but we’ll also draw on the vast and growing body of research examining where and how extreme weather events dictate voter behavior. Data from around the world, including Pakistan, China and the US, show that these catastrophes drive some people further into their political ruts, prompt others to distrust or even hate the government, and inspire many more to become more involved in the civil life.
“Disasters usually increase voter turnout,” said Daniel Aldrich, a professor of political science at Northeastern University. “Either people are really pissed off or they’re excited — the government has actually come through for them.”
Stay with us as we unpack whether flooding in Kentucky affected voter confidence, how water wars in the western US could help Democrats flip the Arizona legislature, what you can do to make sure your vote counts after a disaster hits your area hit, and more.
In the hot seat
Summer heat in the United States has always endangered human health, but the past few years have marked the beginning of a new, much deadlier era. Heat waves fill emergency rooms with heat stroke victims, kill agricultural workers picking produce in rural America, overwhelm older adults without air conditioning, endanger children and pregnant peoplemelt asphalt and track tracksand ground planes of 400,000 pounds.
A cadre of unelected officials across the US is developing solutions to extreme heat that could save lives. But achieving a coordinated response to extreme heat in a country where everything is politicized suffers from the same affliction that has sounded the death knell for climate action in a thousand other forms: denial. State politics stand in the way of smart policies. Read more here about America’s chief heat officers, and the partisanship that inhibits their efforts.
What we read
Hurricane Debby makes landfall in Florida: The Category 1 storm hit the Sunshine State’s north coast in the early hours of Monday before weakening into a tropical storm. Parts of Florida’s rural and sparsely populated Big Bend region are still recovering from last year’s Category 3 Hurricane Idalia, which hit the same area of the coast. By late Monday afternoon, Debby was linked to at least four deaths in Florida, while Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina braced for potentially record-breaking flash floods.
Read more
The United Houma Nation gets $56.5 million to become more resilient: Louisiana’s largest indigenous tribe has won a major grant from the federal government to put in place a climate resilience plan that the tribe says could serve as a blueprint for other places. The tribe intends to build resilience centers, a communications network and a migration plan to help its 19,000 citizens adapt. Josie Abugov has more on NOLA.com.Read more
An ad campaign urges swing state voters to think about “unnatural disasters”: Science Moms, a group of scientists, has launched a $2.5 million advertising campaign in Wisconsin and other states highlighting the role climate change plays in exacerbating disasters. In CNN’s opinion section, Anita van Breda, senior director of environment and disaster management at the World Wildlife Fund, explains “why there is no such thing as a ‘natural’ disaster.”Read more
Torrential rains cause more than 250 deaths across Asia: Scores died in India and China and three people died in Pakistan as monsoon rains exacerbated by climate change swept across the continent. Hundreds of people are still missing with rescue efforts underway. Earlier this summer, floods stranded 1.8 million people in northeastern Bangladesh and heavy rains in India killed more than 10 people.Read more
What to do when disaster strikes: When sirens wail, notifications pop up on your phone and your state declares a state of emergency, what do you do? Where are you going? What do you bring with you? Vox has you covered with a new guide.Read more
