Venice is that iconic city with canals instead of roads; gondolas instead of taxis. It is all very lovely and romantic but I always felt that if I visited the place, I would not want to stay on the ground floor. All that water! And now it turns out all that water has turned into a lot more water. The Venice city council had just rejected a climate change resolution and minutes later the council office was flooded. The tweeple thought that the irony was acute.
The current Venice flood has much of the city under water. While this is not unusual in itself, the scale of the flood and the frequency are worrying. These are the worst floods in half a century and experts believe climate change is an undeniable contributor to the problem.
According to some experts, it is a combination of factors such as climate change, poor management of the flood defence program, bureaucracy and corruption that are to blame.
The historic city was built on multiple islands in a lagoon and is home to some treasured architecture. The current flood warns of future such floods that threaten to destroy a city because of both rising sea levels as well as the fact that Venice is sinking beneath its own weight.
There was a council meeting to discuss climate change. Funding of renewable energy sources, replacing diesel busses, scrapping polluting stoves and reducing plastics were some of the proposed amendments; amendments that were rejected. About two minutes later, the chamber was flooded.
Many thought that the irony of the situation was heartbreaking and that the timing of the flooding altogether too apt. It is certainly ironical said the tweeple. Some thought that it was rather like karma --- man’s wanton destruction of nature results in nature heaping more destruction upon humans.
Another Twitter user pointed out that when Mother Nature is unhappy, no one is happy; that we would do well to heed this wake up call.
While instances of violent cyclones, very heavy rains and forest fires have increased, climate change also results in higher sea levels that threaten to drown low-lying coastal areas.
People are angry with those in positions of authority and the power to make a difference looking the other way on climate change. There is a strong feeling that world leaders privilege short-term gains over long term measures to limit climate change; and blame others for their own inaction.
This tweet is a shout-out to the young climate change activist Greta Thunberg and her recent viral speech in which she holds world leaders accountable for their inaction on climate change. How dare you is the phrase she used repeatedly in her speech.
Here are human beings that prize their costly possessions over all else. Even as they wade through thigh high water, all they are concerned with is a bunch of expensive objects. This is an accurate allegory for a world where natural resources are frequently sacrificed at the altar of so-called development and prosperity.
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