These days, as summer has arrived earlier than expected, cries of alarm are rising across the Northern Hemisphere because of record-breaking temperatures. European authorities have failed to adequately prepare public institutions, administrations, and citizens for this reality. As a result, numerous services and public facilities—from transportation to education—have been disrupted, while older adults have suffered, and continue to suffer, from extreme heat.
Today, they are paying the price of an industrial revolution that, for decades, escaped effective oversight and meaningful environmental constraints. The heavy reliance on fossil fuels upon which Western civilization was built has left behind damage that is now costly and difficult to address, especially amid record levels of public debt and mounting economic pressures. They are now deploying their scientific and technological capabilities to mitigate the damage, but this does not change the fact that we all share the same planet and sail in the same boat. The world’s poorest and least developed nations will have no one to ease the burden of the disasters caused by global warming.
As for me, I have personally grown accustomed to hot weather, having spent my early years in both Pakistan and Indonesia. For that reason, I am not particularly affected by high temperatures. Nevertheless, I closely monitor the condition of the garden, the plants, the flowers, and my cat, “Bashou.” The rose leaves are scorching, while the jasmine branches and leaves are drying out, despite careful watering, keeping them in the shade, and taking advantage of the relatively cooler temperatures in the early morning and around sunset.
The problems caused by global warming are especially difficult to manage in developing countries for many reasons, including limited financial resources, administrative corruption, and the insufficient spread of civic awareness needed to encourage citizens to adopt preventive measures that can reduce the impact of this phenomenon.
Our countries also continue to lag behind in harnessing knowledge and innovation to confront challenges of this kind, a shortcoming that will have serious consequences for public administration and crisis management. Numerous articles have been written, and valuable research and studies have been conducted on this issue. Yet, in practice, we remain far below the level required, while the climate crisis continues to worsen year after year. Time is running out if we are truly serious about addressing the effects of global warming and adapting to its increasingly severe consequences.
