David Hanselmann, a governor’s appointee to the Ohio Soil and Water Conservation Commission, is a former chief of the Divisions of Soil and Water Resources and of Recycling at the Ohio DNR and former Lecturer and Environmental Professionals Network founder at OSU’s School of Environment and Natural Resources. Now retired, he resides in Lewis Cente r.
Polling of top issues facing Americans shows climate change dropping a few notches in 2024. Perhaps since wildfires have been less extensive after decimating the western U.S. and Eastern and Western Canada in 2023.
But 2024 marks four successive years of record high temperatures.
Now Hurricanes Milton and Helene are changing public perceptions again, with impacts of both widely acknowledged to have been made worse by climate change. Both slammed Florida with Category 4 winds, dumping unfathomable rain.
Helene moved north across parts of seven states. Over 250 lives were lost and likely hundreds of billions of dollars of damage. Images of damage in Asheville, North Carolina and countless other communities will haunt us for years to come.