The recent monsoon flooding in Kerala, India has killed at least 324 people and left nearly 220,000 more homeless so far, with more rain expected this weekend. While Kerala gets monsoons every year, this is the worst flooding there since 1924’s Great Flood of 99, and is being reported by lots of sources:
However, none of these news sources mention climate change or global warming or anything like that. The AP article even goes so far as to insinuate that this is all normal in India, saying “Monsoon rains kill hundreds of people every year in India” — a statement that is correct but misleading, as these particular floods are just in one state, the death toll soared in just 24 hours, and it’s the worst flooding there in nearly a century.
I’m not saying that every article about the weather needs to mention global warming; far from it. But unusually severe flooding is one of the predicted consequences of human-caused climate change. Why are news sources downplaying or even pooh-poohing the relationship between these devastating floods and our CO₂ emissions? Are they afraid of conservatives? Afraid of offending some advertisers? What’s the story here?