There have been so many tropical storms this year that the National Hurricane Center has already made it through the alphabet to name the storms. The last storm name started with "W" (there are no X, Y or Z names). Now, storms will be named using the Greek alphabet.

In the last five years, the United States has lost $500 billion because of climate driven weather disasters, including storms and fires. That estimate by the federal government doesn't even include the storms that have hit the Southern coasts in 2020.

Hurricanes and wildfires are getting more destructive. And with a world that's getting hotter, NPR's Rebecca Hersher and Nathan Rott report that the costs of these disasters will continue to go up.

The change to energy sources with smaller carbon footprints comes with its own risks, too. NPR's Kat Lonsdorf went to Japan to visit the Fukushima region — the site of a nuclear disaster in 2011. Now, people there are working to make the region completely powered by renewables by 2040.

In participating regions, you'll also hear a local news segment that will help you make sense of what's going on in your community.

Email us at considerthis@npr.org

You can see more of Kat Lonsdorf's reporting from Fukushima here.

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Costs Of Climate Change Continue To Rise As Storms Become More Destructive

Consider This from NPR