We don’t like to use the words “Told you so” here at LSS. Well, not very often, anyway. But sometimes the temptation to do so is overwhelming. Especially when a prediction made comes true.
A few years ago we used to meet those wordly-wise types of johnnies in pubs and clubs who used to declare “climate change is all very well, but we can’t afford to do anything about it. Cost us too much money!” We tried to say that the cost of doing nothing would soon be very great indeed. That it would soon exceed all the money in the world, and more, as societies collapsed and vast numbers of refugees started trekking across the planet, while wars erupted over tiny scraps of land. But our concerns were dismissed with an airy wave of the hand, and our interlocutors moved on to more tangible subjects, such as the UK’s trading relationships after Brexit. About which they were serenely confident as well.
Well, today we had news of a tangible event which illustrates the economic damage caused by Climate Change. Because the mighty Panama Canal is now running so dry that ships cannot pass through it.[1] Instead, vessels pile up outside in long queues, like shoppers outside a car park. While the owners and the charterers run up enormous costs in delays and rotting cargoes at this vital pinch-point on the trade routes.
Okay, it’s one corner of the world economy. And it’s an El Niño year, so eventually the rains will come and the blockage will clear. For now. But there’s no doubt that this must be a sign of things to come-and they will get bigger. Told you so.
And by the way, those same types in the pub miscalculated on trade and immigration after Brexit as well. Dare we say it again?
Spoiler alert: todays link is dated November, but we assure you, gentle readers, that we have heard this twice as a live story today.
[1]https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-67281776
#climate change #global warming #panama canal #economics #mitigation
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