CTVR Newsfeed for February 23, 2025
Climate change effects on homeowners' bottom lines and on scenic byways, temperature records get broken in a surprising way in January, pushed higher due to soaring ocean heat
More Americans, Risking Ruin, Drop Their Home Insurance
By Christopher Flavelle and Mira Rojanasakul | New York Times
Takeaway
Home insurance is becoming unaffordable or unavailable for many Americans, particularly in disaster-prone areas. The combination of rising costs, policy cancellations, and insurers exiting high-risk markets is leaving millions vulnerable, with long-term consequences for homeowners, communities, and local economies.
Notable Points
In over 150 ZIP codes, at least 10% of homeowners lost insurance due to non-payment in 2022. Coastal areas in South Carolina, parts of West Virginia, Arizona, and California saw the highest cancellation rates.
Many insurers are outright refusing to renew policies, especially in wildfire and hurricane-prone regions. The Treasury Department found that nonrenewal rates were highest in California’s Sonoma and Yuba Counties, as well as coastal South Carolina.
Homeowners struggling to afford coverage are also at risk of losing mortgages, while municipalities face declining property tax revenues. Treasury Under Secretary Nellie Liang warns: “Households are not able to bear the burden by themselves.”
Republican-led states have resisted federal oversight on climate-driven insurance risks, arguing it interferes with state regulations. A push led by Elon Musk’s DOGE to abolish the Federal Insurance Office could limit transparency on the crisis.
CTVR Commentary
The Times’s graphics for this story are striking and I recommend taking a look. The entire article underscores the extent to which climate change has become a direct financial burden for millions of Americans, who are rightly concerned about inflation. The increasing cost to stay comfortably and safely housed is a big part of that.
An aspect of this story that is particularly heartbreaking is that many of the homeowners who are voluntarily giving up insurance coverage are often those who have most or all of their wealth tied up in the home that they own—they are the ones least able to rebuild when disaster strikes.
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Hottest January on Record Shocks Scientists
By Attracta Mooney & Jana Tauschinski | Financial Times
Takeaway
January 2025 was the hottest January ever recorded, despite the transition into La Niña, which typically brings global cooling. The data has alarmed climate scientists, reinforcing concerns that human-driven warming is overpowering natural climate variability.
Notable Points
January 2025 was not just the hottest January ever recorded, it was the third-hottest month ever recorded—despite the start of a mild La Niña. Global surface air temperature was 13.23°C, which is 1.75°C above pre-industrial levels, according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service.
La Niña should have cooled temperatures—but it didn’t. Typically, La Niña lowers global temperatures, yet this January defied expectations. Samantha Burgess of Copernicus noted: “January was another surprising month, continuing the record temperatures observed throughout the past two years, despite the development of La Niña.” The FT has a brilliant graphic showing the effect of La Niña on global temperatures. See the special offer below!
While the central equatorial Pacific cooled, global sea surface temperatures remained abnormally high at 20.78°C, the second highest ever recorded for January.
Scientists sound the alarm. Bill McGuire, an emeritus professor of climate hazards at UCL, called the data “both astonishing and, frankly terrifying,” adding, “On the basis of the Valencia floods and apocalyptic Los Angeles wildfires, I don’t think there can be any doubt that dangerous, all-pervasive climate breakdown has arrived. Yet emissions continue to rise.”
CTVR Take
This data reinforces what many have feared—climate change is progressing faster than models predicted, and natural effects like La Niña now struggle to offset human-caused warming.
I can’t display the FT graphic from the article for copyright reasons, but if you’re interested in seeing it, the first three people to contact me will get a gift article.
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Global Warming Helps Quadruple Rate of Ocean Heating in Recent Years
By Danielle Bochove | Bloomberg
Takeaway
This report should be read alongside the Financial Times story on La Niña. Ocean temperatures are now rising 4.5 times faster than they were in the 1980s, with severe consequences for global weather patterns, marine ecosystems, and climate models. This acceleration suggests future warming may reach the higher end of current projections.
Notable Points
Since 1980, ocean temperatures have risen approximately 0.6°C, but the pace has quadrupled, from 0.06°C per decade to 0.27°C per decade. “With climate change, it’s the oceans that set the pace,” says Christopher Merchant, lead author of the study.
Scientists warn that actual future global temperatures may exceed even the strongest climate model projections because of this rapid ocean heat absorption. “The climate change that’s coming will be at the high end of what climate modelers have been telling us,” Merchant explains.
The rapid warming of the oceans is fueling stronger hurricanes and cyclones, as tropical storms transport excess heat northward. Rising sea surface temperatures have also been linked to record-breaking wildfires and heatwaves on land.
The extreme warmth seen in 2023 and 2024 was not solely driven by El Niño—more than half was caused by accelerated ocean heating from fossil fuel emissions.
“Understanding the true damages of continued fossil fuel emissions is of the utmost importance… This paper suggests they’re worse than we previously thought,” says Kim Cobb of Brown University.
CTVR Take
The rapid acceleration of ocean warming is one of the most concerning climate signals we’ve seen yet. This is not just a story about warmer water—oceans cover 70% of the earth’s surface and act as complex temperature regulators for the planet. The fact that one of our planet’s best insulators and most effective buffers against extreme temperatures is heating up this fast is sobering to anyone paying attention.
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Climate Change and Infrastructure: Why Many Roads Are Under Threat
By Kendra Pierre-Louis | Bloomberg
Takeaway
Much of the world’s road infrastructure was engineered for a 20th-century climate, but rising temperatures, heavier rainfall, and coastal flooding are making roads impassable. A new study estimates that the cost of maintaining U.S. roads will increase by $100 billion per year by 2050 due to climate-related damage.
Notable Points
Modern roads were designed under outdated assumptions about temperature and rainfall. As Paul Chinowsky, professor emeritus of civil engineering at the University of Colorado, puts it: “When they engineered these roads, they made big assumptions that we weren’t going to have big changes in precipitation.”
More frequent storms and rising sea levels are eroding roads from below. Wyoming Highway 22 was completely washed out in 2024, cutting off a major corridor between Jackson, Wyoming, and Victor, Idaho.
Different asphalt mixtures are used based on local temperatures, but as heat waves intensify, roads are melting in places they never did before. During the Tour de France, organizers have had to water roads to prevent buckling.
Coastal roads are becoming more fragile due to rising sea levels pushing groundwater up into the base layers. Oftentimes, the only way to get to a seaside towns is down a single road; if this road is weakened and the town is hit by a disaster, rescuers will have trouble just reaching it. Jayne Knott, an environmental consultant, warns: “When they’re flooded from beneath, the roads become weaker and can’t hold the heavy trucks and equipment needed for repairs.”
By 2090, annual U.S. road maintenance costs could balloon to $182 billion, but pre-emptive upgrades would limit that increase to just $4 billion per year—a fraction of the cost of reactive repairs.
CTVR Take
I remember driving along California’s Highway 1 on a post-college road trip, having my breath taken away by the sheer beauty of the Pacific coastline. Now, large sections of that highway are impassable because, as Chinowski says they were "not designed for this much rainfall." If we want to preserve vital infrastructure, including some of the most scenic byways of our country, we need to focus more on adaptation, not just recovery.
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Please stay tuned for our upcoming piece about a community in North Carolina that pulled together after Hurricane Helene.
Digital Hyphae
Dickson Despommier Dies at 84; Championed Farming in Skyscrapers | NY Times
Deaths of 30,000 fish off Western Australia coast made more likely by climate change, research finds | Guardian
‘Electrification Is Unstoppable’: A Utility CEO on Building a Better Grid | Bloomberg
UK foreign ministry to unveil £100mn development finance drive | Financial Times
Climate change is shrinking glaciers faster than ever, with 7 trillion tons lost since 2000 | Associated Press
Using Lasers to Fight Climate Change | Bloomberg (video)
Actuary Group Forecasts Climate Change to Have Massive GDP Hit Without Policy Action | Insurance Journal
Natural Gas Could Get Priority Over Renewable Energy in Largest U.S. Grid | NY Times
Famed for Himalayan peaks and pristine lakes, Kashmir faces a water crisis amid dry weather | Associated Press
India Bourse Plans First Rain Derivatives as Climate Change Hits | Bloomberg
A key to protecting apples from climate change might be hiding in Michigan’s forests | Associated Press