Sometimes it takes a catastrophe to remind us of the fragility of our planet – the US must act on the climate crisis

Editorial: The best hope now is that the current situation in the Pacific northwest will move the political dial

Residents of Portland, Oregon, have sought refuge in ‘cooling stations’ (AFP/Getty)

Sometimes it takes a catastrophe to remind us of the fragility of our planet and the damage that humankind is doing to it. The “heat dome” over western Canada and the Pacific northwest of the United States has already led to hundreds of deaths and will sadly lead to many more.

With temperatures soaring to an all-time record in British Colombia, this has been billed as a once-in-a-millennium event. But what were events that happened every thousand years, are becoming more commonplace all around the world. Australia has experienced repeated devastating bushfires. Cape Town in South Africa came within a few days of running out of water in 2018. In 2019, Chennai in India suffered a similar crisis.

The link between worsening weather and the climate crisis has become undeniable. The impact of human activity on the global climate has equally become undeniable. But international politics are shifting too slowing in response.