AccuWeather Founder and Executive Chairman Dr. Joel Myers joined the WEF community in Davos this year for the launch of his new book, “Invisible Iceberg: When Climate and Weather Shaped History,“ and hosted a discussion at Goals House with other leaders in the climate and sustainability space.
March 12, 2024
By AccuWeather
Davos, Switzerland—Weather was a hot topic at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos this year, and not just because of the freezing temperatures at the Swiss mountain resort.
WEF, a non-profit, independent foundation headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, brings together leaders from business, cultural, political and social spheres and has evolved into a global platform that addresses pressing global issues. The Forum’s Annual Meeting, held in Davos, Switzerland, serves as a platform for dialogue among leaders and is designed to address the world’s biggest challenges.
One of the key themes at Davos this year was discussing a long-term strategy for climate, nature and energy. Extreme weather was identified as the number one long-term risk in the 2024 World Economic Forum Global Risks Report, and as the frequency and severity of extreme weather and climate events increase, so do their direct economic costs.
AccuWeather Founder and Executive Chairman Dr. Joel Myers joined the WEF community in Davos this year for the launch of his new book, “Invisible Iceberg: When Climate and Weather Shaped History,“ and hosted a discussion at Goals House with other leaders in the climate and sustainability space about what we can learn from extreme weather and climate events throughout history, and how business and government leaders can be better prepared to handle them in the future.
“This book is about what happened in history and how important weather and climate were in determining the course and the pathway that got us here. Now we’re dealing with the real challenge of warming—a lot of it being caused by human activities. There’s a lot of talk today about the warming, but what is it going to mean specifically? That’s what is not getting enough attention,” said Dr. Myers.
“For example, if you live in Arizona, how will climate change affect you? Will it mean that the number of days over 110 degrees becomes so high over the next 20 or 30 years that you will need to relocate? How will that affect air conditioner use and the local energy grid? Or, if you are a company planning a market expansion, will changing climate and weather create major issues in the location where you want to build your new facility? This is the kind of applied scientific information that I believe people want and need to know.”
When asked what advice he would give to the Davos community, Dr. Myers added that ,“There are a lot of the brilliant people here talking about the right issues, but I think there’s more we can do specifically, as I mentioned, to focus on what the warming is going to mean, where it’s going to be more critical than elsewhere. “
“The demand for energy keeps increasing and AI is going to exacerbate that. So how do we meet this challenge? Certainly, a lot of people are working on that, but we can’t stop it. It already exists. The CO2 and methane in the atmosphere continues to increase. So how do we understand what that is going to mean and then develop policies and allow companies and governments to plan? Specifically, I don’t see enough attention on that. So that’s where AccuWeather is focusing.”
“Invisible Iceberg: When Climate and Weather Shaped History” is currently the #1 New Release in Weather on Amazon, and is also available from Barnes & Noble and wherever good books are sold.
Source: AccuWeather
