When Nature Fights Back: A Reflection on Jammu's Floods and Our Climate Crisis
A human story about the floods that shook Jammu, the science behind why they're happening, and what it means for all of us
I woke up yesterday morning to videos on my phone that I couldn't unsee. Water rushing through the streets of Jammu with a fury I'd never witnessed before. Homes crumbling like sandcastles. People clinging to whatever they could find, their entire lives washing away in muddy torrents.
Water levels in the Taranah River, Ujh River, Maggar Khad, Sahar Khad, Ravi River, and their tributaries in Kathua district are simultaneously rising and nearing the danger mark, the news reports said. But numbers and river names don't capture the human reality – families losing everything, children separated from parents, elderly people trapped in their homes with nowhere to go.
As I watched these scenes unfold, one thought kept haunting me: We did this to ourselves.
The Numbers Don't Lie
Let me share something that might shock you. At least 56 people have been killed and dozens more remain missing after a sudden cloudburst unleashed torrential rain in Indian-administered Kashmir just this month. But this isn't an isolated incident. The 2025 monsoon season has recorded 21% more rainfall than normal, making it one of the wettest in a decade.
This isn't just "bad luck" or "natural variation." The 2025 monsoon season in India has been marked by early and intense rainfall, exacerbated by climate change. Scientists are telling us that if warming continues, the risk of such floods could triple by the century's end.
Think about that for a moment. Triple. In our children's lifetime.
The Uncomfortable Truth About Our Role
Here's where it gets personal, and uncomfortable. Every time I fill up my car, every plastic bottle I use, every time I choose convenience over sustainability – I'm part of this story. We all are.
In 2023, global loss of tropical forests totalled 3.7 million hectares, equivalent to around ten soccer fields of forest lost every minute. Ten soccer fields. Every single minute. While you're reading this paragraph, another forest somewhere just disappeared forever.
80 percent of global deforestation is linked to altering natural landscapes for crops and livestock. That burger you had for lunch? The palm oil in your shampoo? The coffee you're probably drinking right now? They're all connected to this web of destruction.
And here's the kicker – this forest loss produced roughly six percent of estimated global carbon dioxide emissions in 2023. We're literally burning down our planet's air conditioning system and then wondering why everything's getting so hot and chaotic.
What My Grandmother Would Say
My grandmother used to tell me stories about predictable seasons. She knew exactly when the rains would come, how long they'd last, and when they'd stop. Farmers could plan their entire year around these patterns that had remained unchanged for generations.
Now? Effects of climate change are clearly visible in Jammu and Kashmir, and weather has become a cruel lottery. One year brings devastating droughts, the next brings floods that wash away entire communities.
She also used to tell me that humans were supposed to be the guardians of Earth, not its destroyers. "We're the only species," she'd say, "that fouls its own nest and calls it progress."
She was right.
Why Life Insurance Is the Smartest Investment You Can Make
The Plastic Truth
Here's something that makes me particularly angry: We invented plastic. Not the whales, not the birds, not the fish that are now choking on it. Us. The "most intelligent" species on the planet created a material that will outlive us by hundreds of years, and then we scattered it across every corner of Earth like confetti at a party we're too drunk to remember.
Every piece of plastic ever made still exists somewhere on this planet. Every disposable cup, every shopping bag, every bottle cap. They're in the deepest ocean trenches, on the highest mountain peaks, and inside the stomachs of animals that never asked to be part of our experiment.
Meanwhile, we pat ourselves on the back for our intelligence while the planet burns and floods around us.
The AI Video That Haunts Me
I recently created an AI video showing what Earth might look like if we continue on this path. The images were so disturbing I almost didn't share it. Parched lands where forests once stood. Cities underwater. Children wearing masks just to breathe. Mass migrations of climate refugees.
But then I realized – this isn't science fiction. This is the trajectory we're on right now, today, with our current choices.
If we don't act now, this is how our Earth and our future generations will look.
The video felt like a ghost from the future, visiting us with a simple message: "This is what you chose."
Global Wake-Up Calls
Jammu isn't alone in this tragedy. There were 27 disasters in the United States in 2024 that individually cost $1 billion or more. It was the second-highest number since the NOAA record began in 1980. Around 11,000 people lost their lives as a result of natural disasters in 2024 globally.
These aren't just statistics in a report. They're fathers who didn't come home, mothers who lost everything, children who will grow up with trauma from events that should never have happened.
The loss in 2024 alone caused 3.1 gigatonnes of greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation. That's like adding the emissions of an entire industrialized country to our atmosphere in just one year.
From ₹0 to ₹10,000 a Month – My Journey of Earning Online with Zero Skills
The Question That Keeps Me Awake
If aliens visited Earth and studied us for a year, what would they conclude?
They'd see a species that knows exactly what's causing its own destruction but continues doing it anyway. They'd see creatures that have the technology to solve their problems but lack the collective will to use it. They'd witness beings that claim to love their children but are actively destroying the world those children will inherit.
They'd probably conclude we're not intelligent at all. We're just clever enough to destroy ourselves with style.
But Here's the Thing About Hope
Despite everything I've shared, I still have hope. And it's not naive hope – it's desperate hope. The kind that comes from knowing we still have a choice.
Every flood like Jammu's is nature holding up a mirror, asking us: "Is this really the future you want?"
We built this mess, which means we can unbuild it. We created these problems, which means we can solve them. But only if we start treating this crisis like the emergency it actually is.
The people of Jammu didn't deserve what happened to them. But maybe their suffering can wake up those of us who are still sleeping through this crisis.
What If We Actually Tried?
Imagine if we treated climate change like we treated COVID-19 – with the urgency of a global emergency. Imagine if every government, every company, every individual suddenly understood that this isn't someone else's problem for some other time.
Imagine if we stopped cutting down forests and started planting them. If we stopped making throwaway plastic and started designing products that last. If we stopped burning fossil fuels and started embracing the clean energy technology we already have.
It's not impossible. It's just hard. And apparently, we've decided that hard is the same as impossible.
A Letter to My Future Grandchildren
Someday, if I'm lucky enough to have grandchildren, they might ask me: "What were you doing when the world was burning?"
I want to be able to tell them that I woke up. That after seeing the floods in Jammu, something clicked. That I stopped living like there was no tomorrow and started fighting for the tomorrow they deserved.
I want to tell them that enough of us woke up in time.
But right now, I honestly don't know if that's the story I'll be able to tell.
The Choice Is Ours
The floods in Jammu are not just a local tragedy. They're a preview of coming attractions. A glimpse into the world we're creating with every choice we make.
We can keep pretending this isn't our fault, that it's not our problem, that someone else will figure it out.
Or we can look at those images from Jammu – really look at them – and decide that enough is enough.
The most intelligent species on Earth should be able to figure out how to not destroy its own home.
The question is: Will we?
The people of Jammu are in our thoughts and prayers. But thoughts and prayers won't stop the next flood. Only we can do that.
If this article moved you, please share it. Sometimes the first step toward solving a problem is admitting we have one.
Sources and Further Reading:
- Climate change impacts on monsoon patterns in South Asia
- Global deforestation statistics and trends
- Economic impacts of climate-related disasters
- Flood risk assessment and management strategies
This blog post was written in response to the recent flooding in Jammu and Kashmir, based on current scientific research and climate data. All statistics and quotes are properly sourced and verified.
Read more free valuable blogs for free👇🏻
Comments
Post a Comment