Drastic Climate change has made huge impact
By: Narayanan Kizhumundayur
In the tapestry of human life, routine holds a silent yet vital place. From the rising of the sun to the onset of night, we have built our personal, social, and economic rhythms around the reliable patterns of nature.
Seasons flowed one into another with gentle predictability, monsoons brought their nourishing rains, winters ushered in quiet restfulness, and summers sparkled with warmth and activity.
But today, this beautifully woven harmony has been unravelled by the forceful hand of climate change. What was once considered occasional and rare has now become frequent and unsettling. The drastic and often violent shifts in climate have not only altered the environment but have infiltrated every corner of our lives, creating confusion, chaos, and a deep sense of disorder.
Where we once relied on nature’s calendar to plan and execute our everyday activities, we now face an unpredictable force. Agriculture, the oldest and most weather-dependent of human occupations, is suffering immensely. Farmers used to plant their crops by reading the skies, relying on centuries of accumulated wisdom passed down through generations.
Today, that wisdom is becoming obsolete. The monsoons no longer arrive on time. When they do, they either pour with excessive fury, flooding the fields and washing away seedlings, or they vanish prematurely, leaving the crops to wither under a relentless sun. Droughts stretch on for months in places where water was once abundant, while other regions experience floods of an intensity never seen before. The result is widespread crop failure, rising food prices, and an agricultural community that lives in a state of anxiety and distress.
Urban life, too, is reeling under the pressure of climate disorder. City dwellers, who once enjoyed relatively consistent weather patterns, are now confronting extremes that disrupt everything from daily commutes to electricity usage. Streets are either submerged in floodwaters or baked under scorching sun.
The unpredictability makes simple tasks — going to work, dropping children to school, shopping for essentials — fraught with delays and frustrations. Drainage systems overflow, power grids collapse under increased demand, and buildings not designed for such climatic variation begin to crack, leak, or overheat.
As the temperature rises, the demand for air conditioners and coolers increases, leading to higher electricity bills and overburdened infrastructure. During colder months, people in usually mild regions now face sudden cold waves for which they are ill-prepared. This forces them to change not just their wardrobe, but their entire way of living.
The health impacts are equally severe, both physically and mentally. The human body is tuned to certain environmental rhythms, and any sudden deviation can cause distress. With increasing heat-waves, people are collapsing in the streets, suffering from sunstrokes, dehydration, and respiratory disorders. In colder climates, unexpected warm spells disrupt sleep cycles, affect digestion, and create a general sense of unease.
Hospitals are seeing a rise in climate-related illnesses, and medicines that were once seasonal are now in demand year-round. Mosquitoes and other disease-carrying insects have expanded their range due to warmer winters and stagnant water from irregular rains, leading to outbreaks of malaria, dengue, chikungunya, and other vector-borne diseases in regions once considered safe.
More subtly, but just as significantly, climate change is affecting our mental and emotional well-being. The persistent unpredictability of weather has led to a rise in stress, anxiety, and feelings of helplessness. People are beginning to feel disconnected from the environment, as though they are no longer part of a nurturing system but rather helpless pawns in a shifting, unkind world.
Imagine a child who cannot play outside because of excessive heat or poor air quality. Think of an elderly person confined indoors for weeks due to torrential rains or heatwaves. The joy of watching the rain, the comfort of a cool evening breeze, the peacefulness of a crisp winter morning — all these small but significant sources of happiness are being taken away.
The disruption is not limited to individual lives; it spreads like a ripple through every system that supports our society. Transportation is one such system. Flights are delayed or cancelled due to severe weather, trains are halted due to landslides or overheated tracks, and roads become impassable during floods. Schoolchildren lose precious learning days, businesses suffer losses, and time — our most precious resource — is wasted in uncertainty. Public events are rescheduled, tourism industries collapse during unseasonal rains or heatwaves, and even religious festivals lose their charm when conducted under hostile weather conditions.
The cultural impact of climate change is also deeply troubling. Our festivals, traditions, and communal gatherings are often tied to seasons. Harvest festivals like Pongal, Onam, and Baisakhi celebrate the bounty of nature — but what happens when the harvest fails?
Traditional songs and dances lose context, rituals are hurried or cancelled, and the collective spirit of celebration is replaced by concern and sorrow. Even our food habits, which used to change joyfully with the seasons, are being forced into monotony or unhealthy compromises. Fruits and vegetables grown out of season using artificial methods have replaced natural produce, further weakening our bond with the earth.
The most tragic consequence of all this is the widening gap between different sections of society. The rich can insulate themselves — to an extent — from climate impacts by living in air-conditioned homes, driving private vehicles, and accessing healthcare. The poor, however, are left exposed to every blow.
A day of flooding means loss of wages. A week of drought means no water to drink or bathe. A heatwave means suffering in cramped shelters with tin roofs that turn into ovens. In this way, climate change is not just an environmental crisis — it is a humanitarian crisis that deepens inequality and increases suffering for those already struggling.
Adapting to these changes is a slow and often painful process. Governments are trying to build climate-resilient infrastructure, introduce better forecasting systems, and educate the public. But progress is uneven, and often too slow to match the speed of the changes.
At the individual level, people are altering their routines — waking up earlier to beat the heat, changing work hours, rescheduling weddings and events, modifying diets, and rethinking travel plans. While some of these adjustments may be manageable, the larger truth remains stark: our familiar way of life is slipping away.
In conclusion, the drastic change in climate has undeniably disordered our routine life. What was once stable, structured, and seasonal has become erratic, confusing, and in many cases, dangerous. The disruption is visible in every field — agriculture, health, education, industry, transportation, and even in the quiet corners of home life. If the current trajectory continues, future generations may never know the simple joy of regular seasons or the peace that comes with predictable weather. Therefore, the time to act is now — not just with policy and technology, but with collective awareness and responsibility. Only then can we hope to restore some sense of order in a world increasingly shaken by the wrath of a changing climate.
(The author is an accountant by profession and hails from Kerala. He writes for various publications including ‘Kashmir Vision’)
