The global mega drought – and how you can make an impact

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While Western media for the past week has been weirdly occupied with the dancing habits of Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin, the ongoing global drought and other extreme weather has been widely underreported. Extreme weather events – fueled by the climate crisis – are now affecting every continent, as well as the lives and livelihoods of millions. These are just a few examples:

• The drought in Europe is now the worst in 500 years, affecting two-thirds of the continent.

• China is suffering from an unprecedented 70-day heat streak.

• The Horn of Africa faces its worst climate-related emergency for decades – affecting 10 million children.

• In the US, extreme droughts are driving farmers to kill their own crops and sell off their animals.

• In Afghanistan, water shortages and ruined crops have left millions in humanitarian need.

• In Pakistan, More than 33 million people have been displaced in flash floods and over 1,000 dead.

• The Svalbard archipelago in the Arctic is heating up seven times faster than the rest of the world, affecting livelihoods and leading to glaciers going extinct. Read this excellent first-hand report from a recent expedition in the area.

All these extreme events are in turn causing a global energy crisis. In Europe alone, water power has gone down by 20 percent. At the same time, nuclear power plants are being shut down because the water is too hot to cool the reactors. And while energy supplies run short, demand is increasing for things like air conditioning and irrigation. This storm of incidents is leading to increased use of planet-damaging fossil fuels – subsidized by our governments. On the more hopeful side, some political leaders are taking significant climate action showing us that solutions exist. This week saw France becoming the first European country to ban fossil-fuel ads and California announcing a ban on gasoline cars by 2035. And the solutions are out there! New ones are constantly being created by innovative startups and companies. In this, you have a role to play. From today, you can vote for 33 new exciting energy solutions in the Startup 4 Climate challenge, here on We Don’t Have Time. By voting (press Agree) for your favorite candidate, you can help two startups win a price check of 2 million SEK (around €200 000) to scale their solutions as fast as possible.