The monsoon cycle is integral to South Asia’s agriculture, economy, and culture, but climate change is destabilizing weather patterns, and life itself, for nearly one-quarter of the world’s people, the New York Times reports. Climate change, mainly caused by the extraction and combustion of fossil fuels, is making the historically relatively-predictable monsoon season more unpredictable and deadly — depriving farmers like Bhagwat Gagre in Kumbharwadi, India, of crucially-needed rains while dumping so much rain elsewhere that one-third of Bangladesh was underwater in 2020 and one-third of Pakistan was submerged this summer. The flooding in Pakistan has killed at least 1,695 people as the country enters “a second wave of death and destruction fueled by the rapid spread of waterborne disease, Julien Harneis, UN humanitarian coordinator for Pakistan, told reporters earlier this week. (Monsoon disruption: New York Times $; Pakistan: The Independent, Reuters)
