Hellish heat has become the norm of life for people on many continents.
This summer has been particularly notable for the fact that the sun became much more aggressive. As a result, the «Hellish July» on our planet smoothly flowed into no less «Hellish August». I hate to say it, but it looks like five years of hell waiting for us.
Recently, celebrity actress and activist Connie Britton made an Instagram post expressing support for the victims of a massive fire in Hawaii, on the island of Maui. «Maui. My heart breaks. Your loss is our loss. We send you a huge amount of love and strength for recovery at this unbearable moment. You will always be a bright pearl for us with a noble heart and an unbreakable spirit», wrote the actress.
Killer Light
A heat wave, a direct consequence of global climate change, has wreaked havoc on Hawaii, capturing the island of Maui. This island, the second largest in the archipelago, has a vast area of more than 1,800 square kilometers. To date, 115 people are known to have died and almost 1,300 are still missing in the massive fire. The number of casualties is likely to rise further, as rescuer teams have not yet completed their on-site inspections and the island authorities do not know the exact whereabouts of these people. Survivors are helping rescue services locate their missing loved ones and are distributing photos with requests for help. This tragedy causes deep pain and compassion, and it is really hard to hold back tears.
Around the same time, a massive forest fire broke out in Canada, and another on the Spanish resort island of Tenerife.
Last month, wildfires on Rhodes, Greece, forced thousands of people to flee their homes. In Florida, U.S.A., a heat wave has caused the ocean to warm to extreme levels. Coral reefs are now on the brink of destruction, along with the entire ecosystem that depends on them.
The Maui fire is recognized as the deadliest disaster in the United States in the last 100 years. In 2018, a forest fire destroyed the city of Paradise, California, killing 85 people. These human losses, the suffering of survivors and the enormous material losses are the consequences of global climate change, which has been made possible by our unreasonable exploitation and thirst for profit.
The voice of the expert community
Scientists have been sounding the alarm for a long time, but this year the consequences of man’s abuse of nature have become clear to everyone, even to those who have not followed the events. Experts have documented an accelerated rise in air temperature, anomalous warming of the oceans and record-high concentrations of carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere.
In June, Brian McNoldy, a prominent scientist at the Rosenstyle School of Marine, Atmospheric and Earth Sciences at the University of Miami, shared his surprise at the incredible rise in the planet’s surface temperature on Twitter. This month the temperature has exceeded the pre-industrial level by more than 1.5°C for the first time!
And that’s not all. Scientists expect the natural phenomenon «El Niño» to occur as early as 2023. This is a phenomenon in which water surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific Ocean fluctuate significantly, causing a temporary rise in global temperatures.
The ocean plays an important role in absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and cooling the Earth, as more than 90% of the excess heat from the atmosphere is absorbed by large water. Currently, a portion of the ocean, as deep as 700 m, is warming up about a quarter faster than it did a few decades ago. There is no doubt that in the future the heating rate will only increase.
For years, the highest levels of government have taken action to protect the global environment, with the only success in 1987, when countries around the world ratified the Montreal Protocol to prevent the depletion of the ozone layer. After that, there were some successes: the Kyoto Protocol in 1997 and the Paris Agreement in 2015. However, humanity continues to increase its emissions of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. While emissions fell by 6% in 2020 during global lockdowns due to COVID-19, they returned to ‘documentary’ levels last year, and by May 2023, the CO2 content of the atmosphere was 50% higher than pre-industrial levels.
Unfortunately, the outlook for the future is not so bright. The UN World Meteorological Organization has released a forecast for the next 5 years, and it is horrifying: with a 98% probability, the average temperature in 2023-2027 will be higher than the previous five years. In addition, the record of 2016, the hottest year in the history of observation, will undoubtedly be broken.
Time for radical decisions
What can be done? As we have said, governments of all countries must impose strong tax pressure on fossil fuel producers. This tax should be so high that even the most stubborn corporations will rethink their priorities in favour of the environment, the planet and the well-being of all humanity, not just those who live in luxury VIP apartments. We need to create conditions in which green energy becomes the best option for business.
And, of course, don’t forget the importance of financially supporting environmental initiatives, if you do have that opportunity. Every penny matters. I recently donated 1,340,000 euros to the Prince Albert II Foundation of Monaco, which deals with environmental issues. It is important to remember that no money is superfluous for the good of our planet.
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