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The Nepal floods seem a world away – but make no mistake, climate breakdown will affect us all | Nesrine Malik

Richer countries might have more resources to deal with catastrophe, but this problem grips the entire planet, however much leaders may want to deny it

Climate breakdown is happening on one Earth, but two different worlds. In one, its impacts increasingly encroach on everyday life; longer periods of discomfort and shorter periods of sharp pain. Endless, hotter summers, and within them sudden wildfires, evacuations, homes burned to cinders in a matter of hours. In another, catastrophe. This summer has been a snapshot of that split-screen. The hottest day on record in parts of Europe, and a wave of water, mud and ice in Nepal that so far has claimed more than 750 lives. Thousands of people are still missing.

The difference is also one of resources. The climate crisis has an economic cost, but some places can absorb it better than others. Responses to this summer of wildfires in Europe included a rapid scrambling by the French government to provide everything from tax breaks for businesses affected by the fires to relocation costs and aid to rebuild homes. The UK government had deployed almost £100m before the summer to strengthen wildfire resilience.

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© Photograph: Prabin Ranabhat/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Prabin Ranabhat/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Prabin Ranabhat/AFP/Getty Images

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People fleeing Sudan civil war face ‘dire and deteriorating’ conditions in refuge city

More traumatised civilians are arriving every day at ‘shockingly overcrowded’ El Obeid and camps on its outskirts

Humanitarian conditions in the Sudanese city of El Obeid and two camps on its outskirts are dire and deteriorating, according to people on the ground, as civilians displaced by fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia continue to pour in from the surrounding countryside.

The UN says more than 15,000 families have arrived since mid-July, joining more than 200,000 people who arrived in the first half of the year, according to government figures cited by Save the Children.

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© Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

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People fleeing Sudan civil war face ‘dire and deteriorating’ conditions in refuge city

More traumatised civilians are arriving every day at ‘shockingly overcrowded’ El Obeid and camps on its outskirts

Humanitarian conditions in the Sudanese city of El Obeid and two camps on its outskirts are dire and deteriorating, according to people on the ground, as civilians displaced by fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia continue to pour in from the surrounding countryside.

The UN says more than 15,000 families have arrived since mid-July, joining more than 200,000 people who arrived in the first half of the year, according to government figures cited by Save the Children.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

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