Forbes: Climate Change to Blame for Cold February Jobs Slowdown

Eric Worrall / March 9, 2019

The famous Frost Fair taking place on the frozen River Thames in London in 1683. Freezing to around eleven inches thick, the ice was strong enough to hold shops, stalls, coaches and sleds. The diarist John Evelyn describes bull-baiting, horse-and-coach races, puppet plays and tippling shops. In this painting by Jan Griffier the Elder, Westminster Abbey and Whitehall can be seen on the left and Lambeth Palace on the right. Date: 1683

Guest essay by Eric Worrall

According to Forbes contributor Erik Sherman, February’s unusual cold is a portent of the future climate catastrophes we shall experience if we don’t mend our wicked ways.

If Weather Affects Hiring Now, Wait For Climate Change To Get Worse
Erik Sherman
Contributor Personal Finance
Mar 8, 2019
It’s never a good idea to take a single data point and extract from it. The latest federal jobs report is an example. Only 20,000 new jobs this month, the smallest number since September 2017, when hurricanes battered the country and a number of its territories, like Puerto Rico and the U.S.
…
February job gains were particularly poor when compared to January’s 311,000. One reason that economists have offered is the difference in weather. January was relatively mild, allowing an unexpected expansion, even as so many were furloughed from the federal government during the shutdown. February, for those who forget too soon, was quite cold for much of the country.
…
Even if February’s numbers don’t make a trend, there is a factor that keeps showing up. Weather. The month broke records for cold and heat and rain and snow. The hurricanes in 2017 were so bad, decimated areas still haven’t seen a full recovery and probably won’t for years.
Weather can have wild swings. Climate drives the variations and has a much longer horizon. Although there are people who want to believe that all the scientists are wrong and that nothing need be done, we’re already seeing the effects. It’s not just scientists. Insurance companies are the canary in the coal mine as they write the checks to cover the disasters and damage. Although the company denies playing down information, ExxonMobil reporetdly has known about climate changefor decades.
…
The more you think about it, the more you realize that a Green New Deal isn’t so impractical and unrealistic. Inaction is.
Read more: https://www.forbes.com/sites/eriksherman/2019/03/08/if-weather-affects-hiring-now-wait-for-climate-change-to-get-worse/

If we don’t embrace the Green New Deal to prevent more global warming, winters could get even colder.