1355 confirmed dead. 5000 still missing. Over 13,000 rescued by courageous rescue teams working through dangerous terrain.
Immense respect for every rescue worker, volunteer & person on the ground.
These are staggering numbers, yet Nepal isn’t receiving nearly enough attention. Why?
First because it is not a wealthy nation & secondly, acknowledging the climate crisis means confronting the countries & corporations most responsible for driving it. Including India. We are clearly not doing enough.

“This is the biggest disaster in the Himalayan region caused by an avalanche of snow and rocks. This incident indicates that the risks we face in the Himalayan region are increasing with climate change. Therefore, this region must be vigilant, and at the same time, it is time for us to strongly raise the issue of the disasters we are facing due to climate change before the international community.”
Press statement by Nepal’s Prime Minister, Balendra Shah. Here it is —> Clear, Direct & a Warning

It’s not enough to tax billionaires. Energy hungry industries like AI & its massive data centres should bear a far greater share of the environmental costs they create.
Amazon, Microsoft & Google are collectively investing billions of dollars in Indian AI data centre infrastructure. Not just because its cheap. Who cares about low income countries with corruption where you can get away with murder if you're rich?
For those who aren’t aware, India is already facing a serious water crisis.

Here’s a crazy idea --> instead of asking working people to donate to disaster relief funds out of empathy, why don’t we make the corporations & industries that have contributed disproportionately to the climate crisis bear a far greater share of the cost of the damage?

Maybe accountability before charity?

Perhaps if they were made to pay for the environmental damage they contribute to(not simply write a CSR cheque) they will work towards preventing & solving the problems they helped create.

788 lives are lost, 9000+ people rescued, 2500+ still reported missing. It will take a very long time for Nepal to regain even a semblance of stability in these regions. From education & employment to housing & healthcare, every aspect of people’s lives has been upended by a disaster of the kind climate scientists have been warning us about for years. Climate change is not a distant threat. It is reshaping the lives of millions across South Asia. India with a billion+ population should wake up.

Earth scientists reviewing satellite imagery have found devastating clues: geomorphologists Kristen Cook & Dan Shugar say the bedrock beneath the glacier appears to have collapsed, taking a massive section of ice with it, sending boulders & ice crashing into the valley.
It is not yet over.
Nepal is facing yet another terrifying warning at the same disaster site. 469 confirmed deaths. Search & rescue operations halted as water levels continue to rise as a dam on the Tibetan side has burst again.

Over 390 dead, 1500 people are currently reported missing.
Meanwhile, Nepal’s Foreign Ministry said it does not ‌need help from ⁠other countries to conduct search and ‌rescue operations.
Nepal News reported that personnel on the ground were severely insufficient for the scale of rescue & body recovery operations while destroyed roads were preventing relief supplies from reaching families.

When the need exceeds capacity, there should be no hesitation in accepting every credible helping hand.

Death toll rises to 270, over 1300 missing
The time to find solutions is now. This will only get worse. Don't know what I can do except to write about how helplessly sick this makes me feel. No one deserves a death like this. Imagine ordinary people just washed away in a second because people who shape our climate policies refuse to take climate change seriously.
We need serious climate action and real protection for communities living on the frontlines of climate change not just prayers.

Nepalis who live in these regions depend on tourism for their livelihoods. Hotels, restaurants, porters, drivers, guides, shopkeepers and countless families rely on the steady flow of visitors through these mountain routes.
When disaster strikes, they don't just lose homes and loved ones. They lose their entire source of income overnight.
Will those who deny climate crisis help to rebuild these communities? I guess their interest ends at conquering Mt Everest via Sherpas who carry their weight.

Nepal is paying a devastating price for a climate crisis it did little to create. A catastrophic flood triggered by a Himalayan glacier collapse has killed over 160 people(with hundreds still missing). This is the cruelest face of climate change -> the countries with fewer resources to protect themselves are often the ones hit hardest.
The question is no longer whether the poorest can afford to adapt. It's whether the rest of the world can afford to keep looking away. #Nepalfloods #ClimateCrisis