Climate Crisis

The impacts of climate change are felt in every corner of the world. Extreme drought conditions are increasingly threatening livelihoods, and no corner of the globe seems to be immune from its devastating consequences. In the summers of 2021 and 2022, extreme weather events struck countries all around the world, and China was no exception. In the summer of 2022, China was on the brink of a water catastrophe as it was hit by its worst heatwave ever recorded since 1961, due to its intensity, duration, geographic extent and number of people affected. The country looked like a barren land. The Yangtze River Basin, which stretches from coastal Shanghai to Sichuan province in China's southwest and includes Asia's longest river, was considered the worst-affected area. For more than 70 days straight, the brutal heatwave ravaged much of China, with sustained temperatures of more than 40 degrees Celsius, day and night, in at least 17 provinces. It affected more than 900 million people

Extinction levels are accelerating faster than that of the dinosaurs. Nature is declining globally at rates unprecedented in human history. Wildlife is in catastrophic decline due to human destruction. Our Earth, and millions of species are at risk. We are wrecking our world - the one place we call home. Without urgent action, it will continue to get worse. Of course, some factors are beyond human control. But with our knowledge and technology, we can still act to reduce our impact on the climate. And only ambitious climate action can make that happen. All countries must come together. The climate crisis is here, and the sixth mass extinction of wildlife on Earth has started and is accelerating. We need to act fast, or there will be catastrophic consequences for the people and the planet on which we depend.

As the climate warms, heavier rainfall plus sea-level rise are creating bigger and more devastating storms and flooding. The dramatic series of extreme weather events that have shaken America, Europe and Asia in the summer of 2021 caught the world's attention as they brought a seemingly endless round of flood disasters across the world. As flood risks rise, so does the risk to the populations. It is an increasingly dangerous and expensive problem. A growing number of communities are finding themselves underwater, with rising tides and floods potentially washing away major coastal cities like Miami, New York or even London. The climate crisis is here and we need to act fast, or there will be catastrophic consequences for people and the planet on which we depend on.

Hurricanes are bad news. Not only do they bring high winds strong enough to do significant damage and threaten lives, but they bring storm surges that temporarily and locally raise sea levels and inundate low lying shorelines. What's more, they dump rain. Lots of rain. Rain by the foot, by the meter. The intensity and devastation unleashed by hurricanes are becoming stronger worldwide, and climate change is a key contributor to making these disasters deadlier than ever before. Hurricanes are not just intensifying faster and dropping more rain because of global warming; their destructive power persists long after reaching land, increasing risks to communities farther inland that may be unprepared for devastating winds and flooding. Whatever they're called, the same forces and conditions are at work in forming these giant storms, any of which can cause damage or devastation when they hit land where people live.

A wildfire is an unplanned, unwanted and uncontrolled fire in an area of combustible vegetation starting in rural and urban areas. Earth is an intrinsically flammable planet owing to its cover of carbon-rich vegetation, seasonally dry climates, atmospheric oxygen and widespread lightning and volcanic ignitions. Wildfires can destroy property and human life, although naturally occurring wildfires may benefit native vegetation, animals, and ecosystems that have evolved with fire. Today's fires are both shocking and wholly expected. That's the tricky thing about fires - it isn't anyone's thing that's causing them; it's multiple puzzle pieces fitting together. Climate change. First management. Human behaviour. Learning to adapt to the new reality and mitigating risks requires swift, decisive action from many different angles.