Strong typhoons – weak climate change deniers
Millions of people will be affected by storms. Climate change experts fear that in the future island nations will increasingly be devastated by extreme storms.
But what else does it take to make deniers and sceptics of climate change understand what scientists in the 21st century have almost unanimously realized i.e. climate change being the biggest and most urgent problem of mankind?
Half a year ago the UN already warned that – without a change in our energy policy – by 2050 about 50 million people could wander across our continent as climate refugees. Now – after the disaster – the Oceanian island nation of Vanuatu has launched a desperate appeal for help to the world.
“All I can say is that our hopes for a bright future are shattered … a monster has destroyed our paradise. Its name is climate change”, the president of the island state said in disbelief. The monster left behind 100,000 homeless people. But even that will hardly make the climate change deniers change their minds. Are they just speechless or do they still know better?
First, the inhabitants of Vanuatu were warned against a cyclone which would race across their islands at 185 kilometers per hour. On the night of 13 March it turned out to be 345 kilometers per hour – “probably the most intense hurricane ever recorded”, experts say.
Just 15 months before, the storm “Haiyan“ had reached 315 kilometers per hour in the Philippines. The people concerned in Vanuatu now refer to climate change as “new normality”. The pictures of the devastation that we now see remind us of Roland Emmerich’s horror films. When his films were released, he was accused above all of “unrealistic exaggeration”.
Every year cyclones are registered like this: The first typhoon goes by a name beginning with A, the second one begins with B and so on. In 2013 for the first time the alphabet had been insufficient. Yet the know-alls keep talking the same nonsense and – like a mantra, obstinately and oblivious of the facts – deny any climate change.
Australia‘s Prime Minister Abbot for instance is a notorious climate sceptic. His government prizes the billions in profits made by exporting the climate killer coal more than the fate of millions of people. On the weekend Australian politicians were quoted saying: “Nature is just cruel sometimes.” Oh, that’s the way it is!
The increase in cyclones, rising sea levels, a changing atmosphere, higher water temperatures. All this means that on the island states alone hundreds of thousands and, worldwide, millions will lose their homes.
However, cash made by coal is more important to Australia. Abbot recently declared that coal was “good for mankind”. Facts have always been in the way of ideologists. They simply do not fit into their world view. With the next flood they will simply repeat their dogma.
In order to equip those affected by the disaster with the basics as soon as possible, Caritas international provides 50,000 Euros for an emergency fund. On the spot Caritas Australia – in cooperation with local partner organizations and church institutions – is taking measures to alleviate human suffering. You can make a donation online – Alternatively you can make a normal bank transfer: IBAN: DE88 6602 0500 0202 0202 02 | BIC: BFSWDE33KRL | Bank für Sozialwirtschaft Karlsruhe
