6 min readAug 2, 2026 02:23 PM IST First published on: Aug 2, 2026 at 02:23 PM ISTIn a world ravaged by wars, some of this week’s most poignant images came from communities confronting the many faces of another crisis — people wading through floodwaters in Assam, families fleeing landslides in Kerala, residents displaced by floods elsewhere in Asia, and firefighters battling relentless blazes across Europe. These events claimed lives, destroyed homes and livelihoods, and left thousands confronting the realities of a warming world. Together, they offered a sobering reminder that extreme weather is becoming one of the defining ways in which societies experience a warming world. They also underscored a less appreciated truth: Climate change does not produce a single, uniform crisis. It unfolds through the distinct ecologies, histories and vulnerabilities.Floods in the Brahmaputra basin, landslides in the Western Ghats and wildfires around the Mediterranean arise from different ecological processes and demand different responses. A changing climate is global; its consequences are shaped by the landscapes and societies where they unfold.Understanding that distinction is essential if societies are to move beyond reacting to crises towards preparing for them. As Mike Hulme and other climate scholars have argued, climate change is not only an environmental problem awaiting technical solutions; it is also a challenge that forces societies to reconsider how they understand risk, development and their relationship with the natural world.