Cyclone in Mozambique and floods in Indonesia. What is happening one might ask? For the religious, it might be the apocalypse but a more scientific explanation is, this is the consequence of climate change. It’s like driving a car downhill with no brakes - that is how dire we have made the situation of planet Earth.

One observation is that, if one would notice, the reports only consider the death toll of humans. But what about the unassuming animals, birds and trees who were victims of the floods and cyclones?

The other observation is that if one would pay attention, the casualties of both these natural disasters are poor people - in Indonesia the victims were especially those who lived on the banks and most likely had an agrarian life. The people in Mozambique who suffered and died at the hands of cyclone Idai are the poorer ones, those at the grassroots level.

Are all these casualties directly involved in climate change? Are they the ones that make policies that govern climate change? Are they the ones who pass orders to cut trees and make landmasses barren? No. The ones who make pro climate change policies are safe and secure and fattened in homes where the flood wafers will never reach. And this is exactly what climate change is about - the ones who are responsible for the horrors are safe and sound and Innocents at the ones who bear the brunt.

J Dias — By email