It’s a good decision by the United States President Joe Biden to declare an emergency in California because heavy rain, floods, power outages and mudslides ruined daily life (“Biden declares emergency for California due to winter storms,” Jan.16, Gulf Today website).

According to the report, Biden approved an emergency declaration for California on Saturday, as storms have pounded the Golden State since Dec.26, killing at least 19 people and bringing floods, power outages, mudslides, evacuations and road closures. Biden ordered federal aid to supplement state, tribal and local recovery efforts in the areas affected by severe winter storms, flooding, landslides, and mudslides, the White House said in a statement. The president’s action makes federal funding available to affected individuals in Merced, Sacramento and Santa Cruz counties, it said.

Climate change is the biggest problem the world is facing now. Disastrous climate change will not differentiate between countries and borders.

The rich and powerful countries have the responsibility to bring about a comprehensive programme to counter global warming.

The world has to take climate change seriously and take effective measures to deal with the alarming situation for the sake of the whole world. We witnessed huge disasters caused by climate change in many parts of the world last year in 2022. Hundreds of people died of heat waves last summer, the monsoon season wreaked havoc in many countries with heavy rain, and flooding destroyed towns and cultivated lands.

People of California are going through their toughest life I believe. They lost their homes because of heavy rain and flooding. I completely agree with President Joe Biden who declared a major disaster in the state of California and ordered federal aid to supplement local recovery efforts in affected areas.

Qayum Qazi,
By email