Nature Takes Its Revenge - Climate Change Around The World In 2021

Opinion analysis by Cherly Abou Chabke, Featured Writer

August 20th, 2021

The five hottest years on record all occurred since 2015.

The rate of sea level rise has tripled and the water is turning acidic.

The Arctic is predicted to be ice-free in September at least once before 2050.

The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere hasn’t been this high for 2 million years. 

If this isn’t a wake up for the international community to take action, I really don’t know what is.

As if the world hasn’t been through enough already; from COVID-19 to political instability, the stock market crash, and racial injustice, it seems as though today, the Earth wants payback after all these years of neglecting what is most important: the planet itself. The summer of 2021 perfectly embodies the manifestation of the blatant attacks on our ecosystems and heightened once again, the incompetence, the lack of action and carelessness of governments in regards to Climate Change. However, this issue seems to be stirring up today, more propaganda than usual for the sole reason of it ravaging the 4 corners of the earth, all at once.

The UN says the climate crisis is a “code red” for humanity

Many scientists predict that what seems “incredible” today, might become “normal” in the future, if no immediate action is taken.

A summer of fires has indeed spread around the world. The fires come against the backdrop of a new UN report warning that the effects of Climate Change are even more intense and severe than what was expected. For decades, the discussion about Climate Change has been about avoiding the point of return. This report illustrates that we have already passed it. According to it, the world is likely to hit the 1.5C warming limit within 20 years, and the deadly heat waves, gargantuan hurricanes and other weather extremes that are already happening will only become more severe.

An EU environmental monitoring group said increasingly hot weather has created a wildfire “hot spot” in the Mediterranean. Flames are whipping through the Mediterranean torching vast swaths of Greece and Turkey, where its Black Sea region has been hit by some of the worst floods in living memory. Only days after wildfires ripped through southern Turkey, razing whole villages and forcing thousands to flee, rescue crews struggled on August 12 to evacuate scores of people after heavy rain caused flash flooding in the northwestern region of the country. Torrents of water tossed dozens of cars and heaps of debris along streets, bridges were destroyed, roads closed and electricity supplies cut to about 330 villages, with more than 1,700 people evacuated. As of August 13, the death toll has risen to at least 40.

Algeria has also not been spared by the consequences of extreme weather: at least 69 people have been killed in the north since August 9. The hardest hit area has been the mountainous Kabylie region, where desperate villagers used water hoses and tree branches to battle the encroaching flames. The government has deployed the army to help fight the fires and 28 of those killed in the flames were soldiers. As a result, Algeria’s president declared 3 days of national mourning.

At the other end of the Mediterranean, exhausted Greek firefighters also battled the blaze for over 10 days, making the “summer capital of the world” go through  “a nightmarish summer”as the Greek Prime Minister called it. Wildfires are burning on the island of Evia, which is facing a “natural disaster of unprecedented dimensions”.

These scenes are being replicated in Tunisia, where a record high temperature of 49 degrees Celsiushas been recorded in the capital “Tunis” on August 11. Now, Spain and Portugal say they’re preparing to join that list amid forecasts for a scorching heat wave.

Another Middle Eastern country already ambushed by crises of all kinds, has also been subject to fires: Lebanon. On July 28, fires were out of control in Jabal Akroum- a northern region which straddles the border. The blaze spread in all directions and destroyed pine forests and homes. The government's failure to contain devastating wildfires in October 2019 was one of the triggers of the protest movement against official incompetence and corruption.

No matter where the flames are burning there are common themes: terms like “extreme fire behavior” have become the norm. In fact, on the other side of the globe, in California to be exact, the “Dixie fire” is now the second largest in state history, scorching nearly a million hectares. Fires all around the world have been intensified by strong heat waves proving how summer 2021 changed our understanding of extreme weather - humans may have lit the match but tinder dry conditions and high winds are the gasoline…

However, scientists are unequivocal that human-made Climate Change is to blame.

No Country is immune to Climate Change

According to the latest UN report, the world is dangerously close to a “runaway warning”. While some countries seem to be dealing with wildfires, others are being subject to severe floods

In the week of 25 - 31 July 2021 only, more than 10 countries experienced floods including the UK (London), China, Mexico and The US (Colorado). Floods have also hit the Netherlands and Belgium where at least 31 people have died. The rushing waters that tore through a German village in July left visible scars, and ruined entire towns and villages, causing more than 160 people to lose their lives.

On August 13, state media reported that five cities in the central Chinese province of Hubei have declared "red alerts" after torrential rain left 21 people dead and forced the evacuation of nearly 6,000 people.

As the magnitude of the destruction becomes clear, one wonders, how such damage could happen in some of the world’s wealthiest and most technologically advanced countries, despite major investments in flood forecasting….

Should we remain optimistic about the impact of the 2030 Agenda? Is it too early to judge? Were the goals nothing but empty promises, or were they maybe a bit too ambitious for some countries? No matter what the answers to these questions are, there is one undisputed truth: World leaders must now come up with realistic, feasible, long-term solutions who will help current and future generations. 

The world can no longer turn a blind eye on the atrocities committed against its one and only home. The wait is over. Saving the planet at this point is no longer a moral duty, but an obligation.

In three months, the U.N. COP26 climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland, must try its best to wring much more ambitious climate action out of the nations of the world, and the money to go with it. What will this mean for the future? What happens if we fail to take action ? Can we still afford to fail? Is it really too late?