The Indian heat wave: effects of climate change felt differently by the poor and by the rich.
Christian Parenti:
The social impacts of climate change are continually shaped and reshaped by class politics. The Indian heat wave is in many ways a socially produced crisis.
Although it is difficult to ascribe to climate change any single weather event – a heat wave, a flood, a hurricane – all of the major climate models have for 30 years predicted an increase in extreme weather events.
The heat wave in India fits the pattern that has been predicted for the region. Responsible for more than 2,000 deaths, this terrestrial inferno is just the latest, headline-grabbing example of the dangerously destabilizing impacts of climate change.
The social impacts of climate change are continually shaped and reshaped by class politics. The Indian rich escape to second homes in cooler climes. The middle class, retreats into air-conditioned homes and malls.
But the poor live, labor, and die amidst the intolerable heat. Keep in mind that, according to the United Nations’ multidimensional poverty index, more poor people live in eight Indian states than in all of sub-Saharan Africa. In other words the great masses of people have very few resources to help them cope with the searing heat.
This content was originally published by teleSUR at the following address:
http://www.telesurtv.net/english/opinion/India-Heat-Wave-The-Weather-of-Tomorrow-Today-20150602-0039.html. If you intend to use it, please cite the source and provide a link to the original article. www.teleSURtv.net/english
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