Zeus: Climate's latest attacks on New York, Houston transcend election politics

Economic costs of disasters set to soar no matter who is in the White House.

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Visitors to the Statue of Liberty Wednesday were met with sunshine and temps in the 80s. Photo: EarthCam.

(David Callaway is founder and Editor-in-Chief of Callaway Climate Insights. He is the former president of the World Editors Forum, Editor-in-Chief of USA Today and MarketWatch, and CEO of TheStreet Inc. His climate columns have appeared in USA Today, The Independent, and New Thinking magazine).

SAN FRANCISCO (Callaway Climate Insights) — New York City’s hardened commuters, sweating it out on the subways this week as temperatures soar into the 90s and humidity bites, got a new dose of climate reality yesterday when the subways and trains suffered massive delays as extreme heat broke equipment and triggered blackouts during the evening trips home.

Transit authorities advised commuters and tourists not to use the trains for 48 to 72 hours, coming after a notice earlier in the day from local power company Commonwealth Edison advised them to conserve energy or risk blackouts during the peak afternoon and early-evening air conditioning hours.

New Yorkers are used to rugged living. But the latest climate punch, coming after last year’s surrealistic orange air crisis caused by Canadian wildfire smoke had people donning their Covid masks again, is a sign that even the world’s toughest city can’t expect what could come next.