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.

Entire industries exist to absorb the impact, undergirded by sophisticated technology, disposable income and evolved sectors. Wildfire insurance in the US is being powered by AI, which spits out numbers to estimate risk based on location and construction material. Outside North America and Europe, there is little of that buffer. The result is asymmetry. While developed countries will still be stressed as events triggered by climate breakdown become more regular and chronic, and they are still not immune to globalised outcomes – rising food costs, droughts, water shortages – what they experience and how disruptive that will be are far removed from other parts of the world.

The difference in scale and resources........

© The Guardian