Climate crisis
Future is too late to solve existential problem
At least 17 people died from heat-related illnesses last weekend.
That occurred only a week after a heavy downpour left 50 dead or missing.
The back-to-back tolls of extreme rain and heat show Korea is no longer safe from climate disasters. Worldwide, the phenomenon is no longer an exception but the norm. It is now a problem of today, not tomorrow.
Korea is one of many countries experiencing the climate crisis on this boiling planet, as the U.N. chief described it. However, its casualties are disproportionately heavy. This country has had no major typhoons yet this summer. The temperatures in the western U.S. and southern Europe are 5 to 10 degrees Celsius higher than Korea's 35 degrees, a huge difference.
Experts cite two reasons. First, Koreans have taken a mild climate for granted for too long. This peninsula is also relatively free from natural disasters, including earthquakes. Second, they are still too hungry for growth to mind the environment -- nationally, let alone globally.
Considering the relative mildness of flooding and heat waves here, those disasters were more human than natural. Every time an incident occurs, officials -- elected and appointed -- cite outdated manuals as if someone else should have updated them. As shown in the tragedy that took 14 lives in a rural underpass, they did not even follow the existing manuals. There had been a dozen danger signals and warnings, but no official moved.
Most of the 17 heat wave victims were aged farmers and younger outdoor workers. If central and local governments had worked out better warning and relief systems, they could have prevented farmers in their 80s from toiling outside in the sweltering heat. If lawmakers, ruling or opposition, prioritized labor protection bills that force employers to stop operations under extreme heat or cold, a young worker in his 20s would not have had to die after walking more than 40,000 steps in a Costco parking lot.
After better protecting its citizens, Korea should change its social structure. It must build all residences and infrastructure facilities to endure extreme weather. Dams and levees should withstand downpours concentrating a summer's rain in a few days. Construction firms must not build homes without protective walls at the foot of a mountain. Some even call for restructuring industries and the job market by focusing on energy, residence, transport and food that the people need for survival instead of allowing overconsumption for wealthy individuals.
Korea is the world's ninth-largest emitter of greenhouse gases. Still, the nation ranks 57th out of 60 countries, accounting for 90 percent of global emissions. Little wonder it is called one of the "climate rogue" nations.
The incumbent administration will likely aggravate the nation's already-tarnished image further. Contrary to global trends toward renewables, the government recently discontinued a feed-in tariff (FIT) policy subsidizing solar power, which had been introduced by its predecessor. Citing some irregularities by profit-blind violators, the government is betting on a nuclear renaissance. That's selfish and shortsighted. Long-term studies say renewables are far safer and cheaper than fossil fuels and nuclear power. Renewable and nuclear energy is not a zero-sum game.
Global experts agree this year's extreme heat is just the beginning. They have long warned disasters will be the new normal if the Earth's temperature rises 1.5 degrees from the pre-industrialization era. The temperature has already risen 1.2 degrees. Worse yet, the crisis and its consequences are not equal and fair, leaving the main perpetrators -- rich countries, big businesses and wealthy individuals -- relatively unscathed, while hitting their victims -- poor nations and workers -- harder. Industrialized countries have vowed to raise a fund but still argue over who will pay how much and until when.
The current generation, including industrialized countries and rich people, must not hand over a sick and damaged Earth to their descendants.
They must listen to futurologists, who say the climate crisis -- not a possible nuclear war or a giant meteor colliding with the Earth -- is the most impending threat to this beautiful but abused planet.
Source: Yonhap News Agency