Urjita Mainali, Contributing Writer
On Aug. 26, a flash flood with the magnitude of a 5.2 earthquake hit the region around the Nepal-Tibet-China border, according to CNN Weather.
Natural disasters have previously hit Nepal, with the region often preparing for extreme weather. Monsoon rains make travel difficult or dangerous, especially in more rural and mountainous regions as the roads fall into disrepair. It is also a seismically active region, according to BBC News, making it prone to earthquakes and landslides.
While it always made me worry for my family, news about natural disasters has never been entirely unexpected — but when I saw the first videos coming out of the massive waves of water, mud and debris, I felt that the scale of this disaster was different.
At the time of writing, the death toll has surpassed 1,290 in Nepal, and thousands remain missing.
In the days following the disaster, experts linked the deadly flash floods to a glacial collapse in the Himalayan region associated with climate change, according to The Guardian. In the region, temperatures have been recorded as warming twice as fast.
The lives impacted and lost by flood-related disasters have risen rapidly across South and Southeast Asia, a trend that is likely to continue and worsen. Nepali Prime Minister Balen Shah has called upon the international community to support efforts to mitigate the impacts of climate change, citing it as a global responsibility.
Yet, the impacts of climate change are incredibly disproportionate between the Global North, responsible for the majority of carbon emissions, and the Global South, the most affected regions. Lately, I have noticed that this discrepancy exists in how the West speaks and educates about climate change as well.
Most conversation, in and outside of the classroom, posits the climate crisis as a looming threat on the horizon. The focus is on what will happen if climate change is not mitigated — flooding, worsening disasters and the impacts of AI data centers and personal AI usage, according to Cornell Chronicle and United Nations, respectively. The base of our knowledge, usually taught since elementary school, about the changing climate emphasizes our personal actions in an effort to avoid a “point of no return” – notably, one that was set in the future.
With this knowledge, it is understandable that conversation around climate change still posits the point of crisis in the future, especially in the West, where it seems that climate change is remarked upon most when the weather is poor.
But we have reached that point of no return, according to the UN as reported by CBC news. The climate crisis is here.
In the Global South, rising temperatures and sea levels have made many regions inhospitable and millions of individuals are forced to consider leaving their homes for their safety and livelihoods. Some nations are at risk of being entirely submerged, leading to a loss of life and culture that cannot be undone. Natural disasters have worsened, rain and flood patterns have changed, infectious disease poses greater risks and unprecedented heat waves threaten lives.
These are not predicted futures — this is the reality of millions as you read this.
The climate crisis is not only affecting the Global South. In the United States, natural disasters have occurred more frequently, at greater scales and regions impacted by natural disasters are expanding.
Coastal and island regions in Europe are at risk for flooding and are also experiencing rising temperatures and consequent health risks posed by heat.
The way we talk about climate change has to expand and evolve to reflect the climate crisis we are facing now. While you should not intentionally pursue a lifestyle that will contribute to a higher climate impact, putting responsibility onto the individual is not a feasible solution.
We need the conversation to go beyond what the impacts of climate change will be and begin to include how we will respond to the impacts that are here now. Massive, sustainable infrastructure change and development is necessary and needed most where it is the hardest to acquire.
As students, the careers that we pursue are likely to touch the climate in one way or another. With this change in focus and paradigm, perhaps it will be possible for us to respond to the reality of the world we live in now. In order to prevent dozens more estimates, predictions and projections from becoming reality, our focus needs to be on the present.