The loss of ice on Earth is one of the most worrying and visible consequences of global warming. It has an impact on sea level rise, is capable of altering ocean dynamics and threatens to accelerate climate change.

The latest violent meteorological phenomena experienced in the western Mediterranean area force a review of the factors that define the risk of people and goods. The intensification of exposure and vulnerability is an anthropogenic factor that must be controlled in the face of the foreseeable increase in storms that science is pointing out. Beyond the fight to mitigate the effects of climate change, we have to renew our efforts to adapt to a reality that is here to stay.

The disruption of the access to water and the deterioration of sanitation are almost omnipresent in all conflicts. In general, this is a little known aspect that extends suffering beyond combat areas. It is the case of the eastern zone of Ukraine, described in the short film War and Water, finalist of the We Art Water Film Festival 4. There are currently 25 armed conflicts in the world and more than 75 million displaced due to violence.

Water pollution due to illegal gold mines is a serious problem in Ghana, a country in which 70% of the diseases are caused by unsafe water. Galamsey is a phenomenon that prevents the economic growth of the country and pollutes rivers and aquifers to lethal levels. This is the case of the Ghanaian protagonist of the short film Nothing Has Changed, finalist of the We Art Water Film Festival 4.

The melting of the subsoil of the Artic territories is a factor of growing concern to scientists. 19 million square kilometers of northern and alpine land are a major carbon sink that mankind cannot lose in its fight against global warming. Moreover, 35 million people live on this frozen layer, who see the threat to the stability of the soil on which their homes are built and can be exposed to microorganisms that have “hibernated” for millennia.

The catastrophe of the large Murcian lagoon has the components to unleash a perfect environmental storm. Poor management of the land, water irresponsibility and inefficient governance, disconnected from scientific reality are elements of a full manual of bad practices to be avoided.

In many volcanic eruptions it is not only the lava and the flows of gases and debris that are lethal. Water can combine with them, accelerating the force and scope of the destruction, creating lahars. This is a phenomenon that is sometimes difficult to assess and increases the risk of the more than 800 million people living near volcanoes. Climatic change is altering disaster prevention strategies.

Do we eat sustainably? The meaning of this sentence is different for someone living in NYC o in Dhaka, or for a farmer in the French Burgundy, in Anantapur or in the African Sahel. The responses do not allow us to draw global conclusions either. The food challenge faced by mankind is enormous: in addition to the need of water and land there is now the carbon footprint. The climate crisis is present in the diet of those who have the privilege of eating breakfast, lunch and dinner every day. And what about all those who don’t?