(Source: Pixabay)
The headlines drew us in for days, with stories of how millions of Texans found themselves without light, heat, or power. And even as the state recovers, as life returns to normal and power has been restored, the economic impact is just beginning to be felt; the Texas Standard quotes an analyst as saying the total damage to the state will easily measure in the billions of dollars.
What happened in Texas is not an isolated incident, to be sure. The International Disaster Database (see chart) shows a three-fold increase in natural disasters around the world between 1970 and now.