It’s Getting Hot In Here

This year the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events in the developing world has set new records- though, setting new records for highest floods, most damage, most killed, etc, etc, seems to be common, and the media stops paying attention once the story becomes old. But for those affected, the real impacts of climate change are more than just another story on the news, and the urgency of action has a whole different meaning. When disasters hit, you realize how vulnerable we are and how little everything else matters. We often talk about the impacts of climate change, but not often we listen to those stories.

I write from central Vietnam. The provinces of Ninh Binh, Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, and Ha Tinh were hit by a powerful typhoon two weeks ago, typhoon Lekima, and reconstruction is underway. People here are afraid. Lekima was the fifth typhoon to hit Vietnam this year. Farmers and villagers know that ‘more frequent and severe” weather events is not something on the IPCC reports, it is the reality killing their children. Lekima hit at the end of the harvesting season, and most crops are lost. We don’t really know what is going to happen after the food stocks run out in two months. For those communities that lost everything, the government and some NGOs have provided rice and instant noodles to fight hunger for the moment. But nobody knows how long it will take for thousands of people to recover their livelihoods. We have finished cleaning up the schools, so children can hopefully go back to school by next week- but most of the schools’ materials have been destroyed, and it will take weeks until new materials arrive. Meanwhile, the government is trying to assess how to deal with the damages to infrastructure and avoid having to request a loan from a global financial institution. While those polluting engage in rhetorical discussions over how to reduce their emissions, many countries in the developing world are paying for the consequences - ironically, many are having to get to loans from rich countries to pay for the cost of climate change. People here wonder when the next typhoon will hit, and wonder if there is any point in reconstruction.

Meanwhile, my family emails me from Costa Rica. New storms have hit Central America, leaving most of Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Honduras under water. After Central America and the Caribbean were hit by two category five hurricanes this year, these new floods are impacting areas that were just recovering from other floods. The cost of the new floods has not been calculated yet, but it is already clear that the toll of the 2007 storms will undermine any national progress for economic development. Thousands of people have been left without access to basic services. My mother emailed me from the south pacific of Costa Rica saying: “we lost access to the capital because of the landslides. They stopped selling gas last night because suppliers cannot travel here, and food supply is also running out. We still have enough, but we worry for people in the north of country because we know their situation is much worse”. But this is only the story of Costa Rica; Nicaragua and Honduras are much worst.

Sometimes I wonder what needs to happen for real action to fight climate change. The cost of inaction is so real for many parts of the world, but sometimes it seems like it doesn’t matter; it seems like it is fine to spare the lives of people in the developing world in order to maintain the unsustainable lifestyle of the developed world. I do not have an answer, and sometimes I loose hope. While people here in Vietnam wonder “why is nature punishing us,” I just know we need to keep fighting.