Storm Debi

As I type this, Storm Debi is battering Ireland with gusts up to 95kph. The regional meteorological office (Met Eireann) has issued an unprecedented (in my time) red warning across most of the island. Including Dublin, which typically is spared of such things given it's eastern location.

The warning came with a stark message of risk to life, to curtail travel, etc. This prompted schools, crèches and public services to delay Monday morning until 10am. And I wanted to write a quick note to talk about two downstream impacts worth noting here.

The first is simply that this is actually quite nice. The storm is awful, the wind is whipped up in a way I've not really felt in quite some time. It feels dangerous out there. What's nice is that we delayed Monday morning for a few hours. It brought calm to the morning. We spent more time with the kids (albeit while checking laptops and the like) and were able to roll slowly into the day. It was nice.

The second is more stark; and basically the opposite of the first. Whenever climate-busting regulations or spending get announced, the economic impact is rolled out to mitigate the impact. We're seeing unprecedented storms early in the winter cycle, ice caps are melting at an alarming rate causing sea level increases and summer is boiling humans out of existence. We just delayed the economy by a few hours because of a storm. In Ireland. The economy, as much as people, is going to suffer if it doesn't adapt. "The old ways" just aren't going to work anymore. Hearing a sixty-something C-level executive protect their economic stability without seeing the wood for the trees or empathising with anyone younger or who might suffer is something we shouldn't tolerate anymore.

We simply need new ways of articulating the economy in this new climate reality.