By Mike Buza
Climate Attribution Shows Links Between Extreme Weather and Climate Change
The effects of global warming are becoming more obvious and more impactful on our everyday lives even in Michigan. This is the second year that smoke from Canadian wildfires has had a major effect on our air quality and therefore the health of our citizenry. A major reason that wildfires are becoming more intense in Canada is that drought conditions are significantly enhanced by global warming. There is a relatively new scientific field called climate attribution through which scientists are able to estimate how much of an effect global warming is having on a natural disaster. The drought in Canada has been made significantly worse by global warming. Learn more about the science of climate attribution here.
Michigan is also suffering the effects of a drought. Between the second and third weeks of September, Michigan went from 31% to 56% abnormally dry, while 6% of Michigan is now considered to be suffering from severe drought. The Michigan Farm News described drought conditions as exploding and warned of diminished harvests this season, noting this is the worst drought in Michigan since 2012. It will take several substantial rain events to bring us back to where we should be. Although we have received some rain recently, it is a case of too little too late. The rain we have gotten has also been spotty.
The science of climate attribution has not been applied to the Michigan drought, but it is well known that weather extremes will become much more common due to global warming. Climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe calls it “global weirding” to describe the unusual weather patterns global warming produces. The most recent example of global weirding is the massive ice storm in northern Michigan last spring. The impact of increasing episodes of extreme weather is contributing to Michigan homeowners experiencing some of the greatest increases in the country in home insurance rates in recent years.
Concerns About OBBBA on Clean Energy Programs, But Reasons for Optimism
Environmental scientists are concerned by the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) by the U.S. Congress and signed into law in July. The law eliminates almost all of the federal support for clean energy measures and enhances direct and indirect subsidies for fossil fuels. The OBBBA may increase the greenhouse emissions by the United States or at least slow the adoption of clean energy.
However, there are some reasons for optimism. China has almost three times the carbon emissions as the United States, but it has had a 1% year over year decrease in carbon emissions in the first half of 2025, despite a substantial increase in power consumption. They have done this by installing more solar capacity than the rest of the world in the first half of 2025.
Other countries are also making significant increases in their clean energy production. India ranks third worldwide in the number of solar installations. The European Union nations have reached 50% of their electricity from renewable sources, and Denmark is the home of Orted, one of the largest renewable energy companies in the world.
More locally, Michigan has been making great strides in its renewable energy build-out since passing a slate of clean energy bills in 2023. Since the passage of the legislation, renewable energy companies have made substantial progress, even in the face of some local opposition.
There is significant progress being made but it is not enough. Although China is making an impressive build-out in renewable energy, they are still heavily invested in coal. The cost advantage of renewable energy, I believe, will eventually convince the ruling party in China to eliminate the use of coal.
Leadership at the Local and Personal Level In Investing in Clean Energy
American investments in clean energy and shutting down fossil fuel facilities were heading in the right direction with Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, but are now in danger of being reversed by OBBBA. That means that we need to work on the local and the personal level to bring these investments into being.
On the local level there are clean energy projects being built every day in Michigan, but we need to urge faster deployment of these facilities. Advocates for clean energy need to attend their township, county and municipal meetings and encourage their elected officials to pass ordinances that will support the development of wind and solar. It isn’t just in the townships in which action is needed. In cities there are many abandoned former industrial sites with nearby high-voltage power lines that are perfect for utility-scale batteries. These will be used to power our homes when the sun doesn’t shine and the wind doesn’t blow. Speak to the elected officials of your local governmental unit and make sure the local ordinances are welcoming these types of developments.
The final steps are personal ones. Forty-three percent of decarbonization can be achieved by individual acts. Actions you can take include: insulating your home; buying an electrical vehicle (EV) instead of a gas powered car; replacing natural gas appliances in your home with high efficiency electric ones; and ridesharing whenever you can. With the loss of many of the financial benefits from the Inflation Reduction Act, adopting some of these measures will take planning ahead. But while some of these may cost money up front, it will save money in the long run.
The transition to clean energy will also help improve your health. Cooking with natural gas indoors releases a lot of toxic gases and is bad for your health. Anecdotally, people report that their asthma improved when they switched from a gas powered lawn mower to an electric one. Decreased health care costs when switching to electricity provided by clean energy sources gets too little attention, but good health is always cheaper in the long run.
When people make clean energy choices, their family and friends are more likely to follow their lead. Your choices can have a multiplicative effect. The future of our children and our grandchildren depends on us. I urge you to make clean energy choices for their future.
If you have questions or comments, contact Mike Buza at theoriginalzuba@yahoo.com.