The fascinating pictures of red fire and black lava coming from La Palma (Spain , the Canary islands) make us for a moment forget the huge destruction caused by the volcano's eruption, and the problematic existence of islands in this era of Climate Change.
The eruption started on 19 of September, and is not completely over yet. "All we can do is cry", said a young woman who lost her home and shop.
There are things in life that we could control, both as nations and as individuals: birth rate and nutrition, for example. Yet, we do little to nothing about that, and so, we fail to improve things on the national and on the personal level.
What then, are our chances to control the uncontrollable? (Yes, climate and Nature's whims are uncontrollable by humans, in my very humble opinion). The answer to my above question is not an optimistic one.
The big plan , supported by scientists and heads of state, is to reduce gas emissions to zero, and invest in renewable energy. These are good things; they should be done regardless of climate change, but...it will take time - time that we do not have. It's a very slow, inefficient process, full of obstacles, and requiring global action.
Nevertheless, we should not lose hope ; we should work on it, parallel to our main efforts to avoid /minimize disaster caused by climate change.
To try and avoid / minimize Nature's disasters we should first stop ignoring what science tells us about the melting ice in Antarctica, the sea level rise, the increased frequency and intensity of hurricanes, floods, wild fires, droughts, earthquakes, volcano eruptions. 'Knowledge is power'.
We could next try to redesign our homes, cities, coastlines; consider relocation, plan how to assure adequate supply of food , water, and shelter.
Not easy, not cheap - but we have to keep in mind that according to scientific predictions, latest by 2050 (make it 2040) many islands and cities in various parts of the world will be ....under water.