The recent highly lethal flash flood in Texas, where a river rose 26 feet in 45 minutes, was another example of the global increase in major disasters, including floods, droughts, fires and heat waves. These result from climate change caused by global heating. It also showed the lack of preparedness to mitigate these disasters.

In 1981, James Hansen, a scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Institute, postulated that the known rise in global temperatures over the previous century of .5 to .7 degrees celsius, was due to the increase of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. He had studied the atmosphere of Venus and applied his findings to the Earth’s atmosphere.

Hansen also presented his conclusions to Congress in 1988 that the rise in such gases, especially carbon dioxide, would further increase global temperature. He warned that this would have increasing effects on world climate unless this was countered. Congress paid no attention.

Hansen became an activist on the issue. At first, he represented a small minority, but as the effects of global warming became more apparent, his explanation has become widely accepted by scientists.

The facts are known, and the predictions dire. Global temperature is on the cusp of rising above 1.5 degrees and will continue to rise even if all burning of fossil fuels were to stop now, as greenhouse gases already in the atmosphere continue to result in further heating. What is happening is that global warming is accelerating as more greenhouse gases, primarily carbon dioxide, but also methane, are pumped into the atmosphere by the extraction and burning fossil fuels.

Struggles to mitigating the impact of climate change

There will be more struggles in the future around the impact of disasters like the deadly flash food in Texas. Part of this is to raise awareness of the need to take immediate measures to mitigate the effects. Capitalists don’t want to allocate the funds to do that and will have to be forced to do so by mass movements.

The Texas disaster shows it is necessary to put a lot more resources towards better understanding of weather, early warnings, rapid measurement of water levels and preventative steps taken in flood prone areas.

Similar actions must be taken to protect populations in drought prone areas. Forest management must be better understood and implemented to reduce the dangers of wildfires. Heat waves that can be deadly, as we have seen in countries like Bangladesh, require greatly increased cooling measures to protect the population.

The science and engineering of mitigating measures must be stepped up. This is primarily the responsibility of the rich countries, augmented by the good scientists that exist in the rest of the world.

U.S. refusal to lead

The U.S. should be taking the lead, but it isn’t. Both Democratic and Republican administrations have increased fossil fuel production and have neglected to take adequate mitigating steps. Biden gave lip service to opposing global warming and did nothing. Trump pays no lip service and denies there is such a thing as climate change.

The Trump administration’s “Big Beautiful Bill”, which recently passed both the Congress and Senate, and further proposed measures, are making things worse.

On 14 July the New York Times article “Cuts Endanger U.S. Response to Calamities” argued,

“In an effort to shrink the federal government, President Trump and congressional Republicans have taken steps that are diluting the country’s ability to anticipate, prepare for and respond to catastrophic flooding and other extreme weather events, disaster experts say.”

Trump’s budget will be endorsed by the Republicans who have a majority in Congress. Meanwhile, the Democrats fail to say what they will reverse should they form the next administration. That is consistent with the Democrat’s reaction to all of Trump’s policies including the massive tax cuts for the rich at workers’ expense, and everything else. Trump hopes that his whirlwind of new policies will become established facts — faits accomplis — hard to reverse even if Democrats wanted to, which they show no appetite for.

Capitalism’s inability to answer the crisis

The capitalist system, that now dominates the world, cannot respond adequately. The first steps must be taken by the rich countries which are historically the main producers of carbon dioxide and methane, not by the poor countries that can least afford to, but who suffer most from its effects.

But within the rich countries capitalist competition prevents this from happening. If any large bloc of capitalist industries would begin to do so on their own, that would mean costs for them would increase and their competitors would crush them. It would take planning of the economy to overcome capitalist competition, something which is an anathema to capitalism.

Also, there would have to be international cooperation of all countries to limit and eliminate greenhouse gases, because the atmosphere covers the whole world, and the entire history of capitalism has been of international competition, often very sharp, and even leading to wars.

Only the overthrow of capitalism, and the building of a cooperative society and world where human needs are the priority, not profit, is necessary. That system is socialism, eco-socialism. The present world is far from that.

We can reasonably hope that as the catastrophes of global warming increase, understanding that capitalism is the cause, and the need for socialism will also increase, especially for the working class, the only class whose objective interests lie in socialism. The other workings of capitalism, explained by Marx, and its wars, that impact working people most of all, will also play an important part.

The fight for reforms to the activities causing global warming and for mitigation of its effects are what we can do now. The need for cooperation and the need for planning in a cooperative society is something that needs to be explained by those involved in the fight for immediate reforms.

We need a movement independent of the capitalist parties that places no hope in them.