Your house is on fire

Your house is on fire. All of your friends, family and neighbors are watching it become engulfed in flames at a slow rate and are doing nothing about it. Instead of asking for help or finding the resources to put the fire out yourself, you have decided to take out the
items that are dearest to
your heart to prevent them from being destroyed in what you believe was the inevitable outcome for the place you’ve lived your
entire life.

The house I’m referring to isn’t the one built out of wood or bricks that you have the opportunity to decorate as you please and call home. What I’m referring to is the planet that gives you the land you live on, the air you breathe, the food you eat and the water you drink.

Although I was familiar with climate change, its effects on the planet and how mankind constantly contributes to polluting the environment, the thoughts of it were always thrown to the back of my mind so I could focus on things that were in my control, such as academics, work duties and life at home. That was how my mind coped with the idea, until I watched “El Tema” by La Corriente del Golfo, a series that highlights the impact of the climate crisis in different areas of Mexico.

In episode 1: Agua, Chayo Hernández, a member of the Organización Popular Francisco Villa de Izquierda Independiente political commission, explained that a neighborhood on the borders of Tláhuac, Iztapalapa and Xochimilco received no water for several years and when it finally did, it was minimal and filthy. So, they came up with
a long-term project to allow them to not depend on the
water from the Cutzamala system.

Hernández further explained they created three absorption wells, to return rainwater to the subsoil, along with a water purification plant and an elevated tank to harvest the rainwater. This provides the community with water for eight days.

I think it’s incredibly impressive that individuals could come together and create a solution to help their community fight the issue of water insecurity, but I also think it’s devastating for a community to lack a basic necessity such as water. Now, if we see communities with a lack of water, not only are the people living in them affected directly, but their agriculture will also suffer, leading to food insecurity.

These are just a few of the consequences of the climate crisis that will most likely become more severe over time. Some of the expected future effects of climate change in the U.S. include rising sea levels, stronger and more intense hurricanes, more droughts and severe heat waves, longer wildfire seasons and higher global temperatures, according to climate.nasa.gov.

Disasters linked to climate and weather extremes are also becoming more frequent and intense as the planet gets warmer, 90% of which are now classified as weather and climate related, costing the world economy about $520 billion U.S. dollars each year, according to un.org.

As someone who hates the Texas heat, suffered through the winter storm in 2021 and is now more informed about how communities outside of where I live are suffering, these consequences make me fear the future. And the unfortunate truth is that no single person has control over it. This isn’t something we can fix immediately, or with the push of a button.

Yes, I sound as if the world is doomed and I’ve lost all hope in humanity. But, surprisingly, I still have hope that by becoming more informed about these issues, taking the time to listen to credible research findings, investing the right funding, reducing the use of fossil fuels and our carbon footprint and doing our part  in taking care of our environment, we can come together and find a solution to clean up as much of this mess as possible.

So, yes. Your house is on fire. But it doesn’t have to be.