While vacationing in Africa around January through February this year (2024), I was shocked by the level of heat and extreme weather conditions that I had to live through daily. The heat was so unbearable that I had to literally stay shirtless under the fan throughout the day. My life became so terrible that I dreaded the periods when the electricity went off and there was no fan to keep me cooled: how do I sleep or live in such heat? At night I had to sleep in mosquito nets to prevent malaria, and it was so hot to stay in these mosquito nets, even with a fan. Think of it then, how much worse it was when the electricity went off and I was sleeping in a mosquito net. Although I grew up there, I do not remember ever going through such a hot temperature.
So, when I heard about the extreme heat being experienced in Asia just this week, I felt sorry for them. From India, Bangladesh, and Nepal to Thailand, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar and the Philippines, the temperature is above 40 degrees Celsius (110 Fahrenheits). It has already started killing people there. Children in several regions and states are asked to stay home because of the heat and it is affecting agriculture too. More than 100 people were killed in Pakistan and India alone from this heat wave last year and this year, the deaths have begun mounting. The extreme heat makes it difficult for farmers because it causes crops to burn and the soil to harden.
These bushfires were seen in Europe and North America in 2023, and it is certain to return again this year (2024) as Europe and North America heads into Summer. In 2023, Europe was burning and that was no joke. Millions fled their homes as their houses and property burn to the ground and that is a fact. A whole town in Hawaii was burnt down from a bushfire. These were happening alongside immense drought in Europe, typhoons and monsoon winds in India, and flooding in South-East Asia and Australia.
The 2023 heatwave killed more than 1100 people in Southern and Western Europe and 1000s of cars were burnt. Millions of people in the US are also living under burning heat; and it is claimed to be one of the hottest years on record. Sadly, the elderly are most vulnerable as they can easily die from dehydration. The intense heat also brings intense rainfalls and storms, causing unprecedented flooding across the globe. Kenya and Tanzania, Brazil and Texas, experienced unprecedented floods just this week, displacing many from their homes. The flooding has already killed 39 people with more than 60 missing in Brazil. Are these signs of global warming or climate change?
The current climate crises across the globe reminds me of how vulnerable 🥹 we are as a people. If common heat can kill thousands and destroy forests and property, if common rainfall can cause intense flooding, if typhoon winds can destroy everything we hold dear, then we are of all creatures the most miserable.
In spite of all our technology, we cannot do anything about these natural calamities. That is how dependent we are on our environment. Owing to these signs, many people are calling for a reduction in carbon emissions to reduce global warming…what about the very cold winters that were experienced recently?
It appears to me we are not as great as we make ourselves to be and only reflects our vulnerability: just as it happened in Noah’s day when all, but eight humans perished by a flood. Sitting back and looking at a world plagued by pestilences, violence, economic hardships and a poor climate, I am humbled…
May God have mercy on us and save us from these troubles. A happy peaceful Sabbath to all the saints of God.
