Life Goes On for Some in Mozambique

Life goes on surprisingly smoothly in North America despite global warming looming. We may have to harden our data centers against extreme weather, and raise a few levees. However, our utilities still function normally. And if the water supply fails, we pop down to the store for a few bottles. Things are somewhat different in Mozambique.

The Forgotten People of Mozambique

Local photographer, Mário Macilau, left school to earn money for his family and discover photography. Years later, a charity called Water Aid commissioned him to take photos of the people of Namaacha and Changalane, near Maputo, in Mozambique. They wanted him to illustrate the negative effects of climate change on their lives, and how life goes on regardless.

Mário Macilau produced a series of somber black and white photos of what he saw through his lens. We invite you to visit the link to them at the end of this post. But beware, because your life may not be quite the same after you glimpse the lives of the individuals he chose. Mário Macilau has got it spot on. We will only ever appreciate the gravity of climate change after we see it in the faces of people.

Life Goes On in Mozambique By Mário Macilau

What Would We Do If North America Went That Way?

Mozambique has a naturally drier climate. If we left counter measures dormant until North America started drying out we might have left it too late. We could have lost control of warming, and be living in hothouse Earth from which there is no escape. Hear what scientists say will happen if the natural systems that protect us from the sun tip the other way.

Perhaps we really should do something about this, you and I, while life goes on quite smoothly in the West. Perhaps we should admit the summers are hotter than when we were kids. And we have never seen hurricanes like that before. We may have entered the age of six simultaneous catastrophic climate events already, but we blunder on. Why?