Is this the new normal?

Is this the new normal? That is what FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell is telling us in the wake of the deadly tornadoes that tore through the south and Midwest over the weekend, pointing to the effects of climate change. She warns unless more action is taken, we will continue to see these unprecedented and destructive weather patterns. Of course, you can’t point to just one weather event as evidence of global warming. There seems to be plenty of evidence, from raging fires in California to melting ice to heavier rains and more destructive storms. Some say the climate has always been changing, and that is certainly true. But not at the rate it is today. Of the warmest autumns in La Crosse’s history, four of them have come in the last six years. That seems like a pattern. Of course we can continue to deny that climate change is real, or that there is anything we can do about it. But then the question has to be asked, what if we are wrong? What harm comes from taking steps to restore the health of our climate? We know what happens if we don’t. We just saw it happen in Kentucky. Do we really want that to be the new normal?