No, I’m not describing scenes from a science fiction film or an intro to an abstract report on climate change. This is real life in 2021. Chances are, you have recently seen these either in newspaper headlines, social media feeds, or even from your own home.

We have gone past all climate projections, policy papers, arguments for it or against it. As climate change accelerates and becomes deadlier, cities become more and more vulnerable

We need to move forward with early warning systems, coordinated response work, and of course, bold action to stop the climate emergency from getting worse.

Let’s be be perfectly clear: extractive industry, from fossil fuels to industrial agriculture, is the source of this misery. These industries may try to put the blame on the consumer, but it is their colonial business model which is to blame.

Even faced with record floods, droughts, heatwaves and cold snaps, they appeal court orders to drastically reduce their emissions and greenwash with ‘net zero’ offsetting and other false solutions.

We must hold them to account. With 100 days till COP26, we need to tell world leaders to step up and fight to cap global temperatures at 1.5ºC above pre-industrial levels. This is what the climate crisis looks like:

JapanMud and debris at the scene of a landslide following days of heavy rain in Atami in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan © Charly Triballeau/AFP/Getty Images

Mud and debris from a landslide following days of heavy rain in Atami in Shizuoka Prefecture on July 3, 2021. © Charly Triballeau/AFP/Getty Images

Bangladesh

Cycle rickshaw pullers wade through a waterlogged street carrying their passengers after a heavy downpour in Dhaka, Bangladesh. © Munir Uz Zaman/AFP via Getty Images
Cycle rickshaw pullers wade through a waterlogged street carrying their passengers after a heavy downpour in Dhaka on July 4, 2021. © Munir Uz Zaman/AFP via Getty Images

Belgium

View of the destruction following severe flooding after heavy rainfall in Pepinster, Belgium. © Olivier Matthys/Getty Images

View of the destruction following severe flooding after heavy rainfall on July 17, 2021 in Pepinster, Belgium. According to local reports 27 are dead and 103 missing after 2 days of heavy rain caused rivers to burst and wash houses away. © Olivier Matthys/Getty Images

Austria

A damaged street is seen in Kelchsau near Kitzbuehel, Austria after heavy rainfall caused damaging floods and mudslides. © Zoom Tirol/AFP via Getty Images
A damaged street is seen in Kelchsau near Kitzbuehel, Austria, on July 18, 2021, after heavy rainfall caused damaging floods and mudslides. © Zoom Tirol/AFP via Getty Images

Netherlands

Aerial view along the Maas river in Limburg, Netherlands. © Cris Toala Olivares/Getty Images

Aerial view along the Maas river on July 16th, 2021 in Limburg, Netherlands © Cris Toala Olivares/Getty Images

China

Rescuers looking for stranded residents along a flooded street following heavy rains in Dazhou, China. © STR/AFP via Getty Images

This photo taken on July 11, 2021 shows rescuers looking for stranded residents along a flooded street following heavy rains in Dazhou, in China’s southwestern Sichuan province. © STR/AFP via Getty Images

USA

People rest at the Oregon Convention Center cooling station in Portland, Oregon. © Kathryn Elsesser/AFP via Getty Images
People rest at the Oregon Convention Center cooling station in Oregon, Portland on June 28, 2021, as a heatwave moves over much of the United States. Swathes of the United States and Canada endured record-setting heat on June 27, 2021, forcing schools and Covid-19 testing centres to close and the postponement of an Olympic athletics qualifying event, with forecasters warning of worse to come. © Kathryn Elsesser/AFP via Getty Images

Cuba

An old American car drives through a flooded street in Havana, Cuba. © Yamil Lage/AFP via Getty Images

An old American car drives through a flooded street in Havana, on June 30, 2021. Heavy rains and malfunctioning sewers cause the flooding of streets in Havana. © Yamil Lage/AFP via Getty Images