When climate change hits your pocketbook

Financial pain prioritizes your sense of threat

An interesting capture (h/t John Milligan-Whyte) of business leaders’ sense of threat for the year 2024:

Of course, #1 is Taiwan, the clear focus of the US security establishment right now …

#2 is Ukraine, and #3 is Gaza.

Wait a minute? WTF?

Extreme weather tops the list? Don’t global leaders realize that Russia and China are basically remaking the world order? Sort of? Kind of? You know, around the margins?

Contradicting the vast majority of geopolitical analysis out there (World War III anyone?), Armed conflict rings in 8th place, at just over one-third the emphasis given to extreme weather.

Just that term, extreme weather, is crucial here. If the category was climate change, there’s no way that’s listed so prominently as #1 — no way. But extreme weather? That’s hard to deny.

It’s like we’ve gotten to the point when we acknowledge we have a drinking problem, but not that we’re alcoholics. We have yet to hit rock bottom.