That climate change will severely affect the Third World is an oft-repeated fact. For instance, Bangladesh, which already suffers from devastating natural disasters, is predicted to bear some of the worst effects of climate change. Rising sea-levels threaten to inundate the low-lying regions in Bangladesh and erratic weather patterns will intensify the impacts of the cyclones that hit Bangladesh's populated coast.
But the effects of climate change are not going to be restricted only to developing countries. As Hurricane Ike hit countries in the Caribbean (Haiti, Cuba, and Turks and Caicos) and then the southern US coast, it is obvious that the developed world of USA is not immune to climate change either.
Ike killed more than 70 people in the Caribbean, with Haiti, an already impoverished country, being the hardest hit. There has been widespread destruction of property in all the Caribbean nations. In the US, an estimated one million people were evacuated to escape the storm which made landfall at the Gulf Coast of Texas. The storm caused damage worth US$ 10 billion in USA.
Thus, the need for a concerted global effect to fight climate is now even stronger. Climate change is not limited to few corners of the globe but instead has the potential to wreak havoc on entire sections of the world. In light of this fact, it is shocking that the developed world might not even fulfill it's obligation under the Kyoto Protocol.
With this year being election year in USA, it will be interesting to see what kind of a role climate change plays in the campaigns of the Presidential candidates. The US has already gotten notoriety for refusing to be a part of the international climate change treaty – Kyoto Protocol. But with hurricanes lashing the US with ever-increasing ferocity, this might just be the wake-up call that America needs.
But the effects of climate change are not going to be restricted only to developing countries. As Hurricane Ike hit countries in the Caribbean (Haiti, Cuba, and Turks and Caicos) and then the southern US coast, it is obvious that the developed world of USA is not immune to climate change either.
Ike killed more than 70 people in the Caribbean, with Haiti, an already impoverished country, being the hardest hit. There has been widespread destruction of property in all the Caribbean nations. In the US, an estimated one million people were evacuated to escape the storm which made landfall at the Gulf Coast of Texas. The storm caused damage worth US$ 10 billion in USA.
Thus, the need for a concerted global effect to fight climate is now even stronger. Climate change is not limited to few corners of the globe but instead has the potential to wreak havoc on entire sections of the world. In light of this fact, it is shocking that the developed world might not even fulfill it's obligation under the Kyoto Protocol.
With this year being election year in USA, it will be interesting to see what kind of a role climate change plays in the campaigns of the Presidential candidates. The US has already gotten notoriety for refusing to be a part of the international climate change treaty – Kyoto Protocol. But with hurricanes lashing the US with ever-increasing ferocity, this might just be the wake-up call that America needs.
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