We don’t see what climate change is doing to us

MANY of us realise climate change is a threat to our well-being. But, what we have not yet grasped is that the devastation wrought by climate change is often just as much about headline-grabbing catastrophes as it is about the subtler accumulation of innumerable slow and unequal burns that are already under way.

These nearly invisible costs may not raise the same alarm but, in their pervasiveness and inequality, may be much more harmful than commonly realised. Recognising these hidden costs will be essential as we prepare ourselves for the warming that we have ahead of us.

Responsibility for mitigating climate change on the local level lies in part with public institutions – not only in encouraging emissions reductions, but also in facilitating adaptation.