CounterPunch Exclusives

CounterPunch Exclusives

America’s Climate Free Fall

Image by Getty and Unsplash .

Climate tipping points are critical thresholds that trigger unstoppable shifts to another state. The global climate system is full of teetering tipping points that collectively threaten the climate system with radical change. But it’s the change itself, the transition to a tipping point, that is most chaotic. This is climate free fall in America today, dangerously exposing the country to risks overlooked by policy decision-makers.

Climate free fall has been identified by Anders Kevernann, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Germany, Professor of the Dynamics of the Climate System at Institute for Physics and Astrophysics: “The planet is heading for climate free fall, a period where increasingly erratic weather will stress global supply chains, spike insurance losses, and undermine the financial stability modern economies depend on. The greatest economic risks lie not at the endpoint of climate change, but in how we get there.” (Climate Free Fall: Scientists Warn of Hidden Economic Crisis, Earth’s Systems Become Dangerously Unstable, Earth Climate, July 18, 2026)

America’s Climate Free Fall

America is already experiencing a chaotic climate system that’s effectively climate free fall.

As of July 14, 2026, 46.47% of the Lower States are in drought. (Source: Drought.gov and National Centers for Environmental Information). Drought in the Lower States is an astonishing 40% worse than the ~33% drought index for the world which itself is triple the global drought index of 10-12% in the year 2000.

Nearly one-third (1/3rd) of the planet is afflicted with drought as climate change-driven heat pulls moisture from soils and plants at unprecedented rates.

Flash floods- The National Weather Service issued double the number of flash flood warnings, totaling 3,600 in 2025, versus the year 2000: “The dramatic escalation in flash flooding over the last quarter-century is driven by a warming atmosphere holding more moisture, resulting in extreme, high-intensity thunderstorms,” because too much fossil fuel CO2 brings too much atmospheric heat.

Capitalism measures success and failure in dollars, to wit: In 2025 the US experienced “twenty-three (23) billion-dollar weather disasters” at a total cost of $115 billion. In the year 2000 there were “three (3) billion-dollar disasters.” The year 2025 included a record-setting number of (1) severe........

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