the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
Jul 21, 2025
Dangerous flooding has hit multiple locations in the United States since the flooding that killed 129 people in central Texas. Water rushed into New York subway stations, drowned two people in a vehicle in New Jersey. Storms stranded Washington-area motorists. Flash floods hit a mountainous area in New Mexico. A massive downpour clobbered roads and homes in North Carolina. At the same time, flooding rains have failed to relent in Texas. In every case, the flooding was caused by sudden extremely heavy rainstorms.
While downpours and thunderstorms are common in the summer, halfway through, there have been more than twice as many and often fatal floods as usual for July, according to the National Weather Service. There are various weather conditions behind this month’s extreme rainfall, but one thing connects them all: large amounts of moisture in the atmosphere above the country.
It is flowing from abnormally warm oceans across the Northern Hemisphere that are likely to extend the elevated flood risk into August. Plumes of tropical moisture are stretching into middle latitudes and stagnate there, increasing the risk of floods.
Water vapor is fuel for storms. When vapor condenses into clouds, it releases energy, causing storms to intensify. Weather systems that have more of this fuel can produce more rainfall.
As the planet warms, that fuel is building up in the skies. Warmer air holds more moisture. Burning fossil fuels releases “greenhouse” gases into the upper atmosphere. Those gases act like the glass in a greenhouse, trapping the heat of the sun and causing the planet to warm.
This human-caused warming has been very rapid, starting during the Industrial Revolution. And it has been speeding up. A warmer climate creates instability in the atmosphere, making it harder to make predictions about weather systems.
Capitalism puts profits before all else, including human lives. Stopping climate change or mitigating its deadly effects are not profitable. That means in order to change what is happening to the planet and the people and animals on it, capitalism has to go.