Welcome rain! This heat almost killed us!

The United States new President Donald Trump loves Twitter but he hates the climate change subject and unlike the fight against terrorism, the worrisome threat of global warming may not benefit from American leadership for at least the next four years. Four days before his inauguration, Trump, nicknamed ‘twitter-in-chief’ on social media ‘got lost’ while looking for his daughter’s account @Ivanka Trump and ended up on the wrong address owned by @Ivanka Majic, UK Labour party’s former digital director. In real life, that could be likened to an encounter in an isolated pathway between a mother and the stubborn kid that bullied her daughter out of junior school. Smack! But Ivanka Majic, a climate change activist, exploited the opportunity to try and win Trump’s support on mitigating the effects of climate change, a subject he strongly dismisses as a hoax sponsored by environmental scientists and lobbyists. “You’re a man with great responsibilities. May I suggest more care on Twitter and more time learning about climate change,” Majic tweeted back. She later told the UK Guardian in an interview that while Trump’s mistaken ‘tweet-bump’ didn’t bother her, she was troubled that ‘we have a US President who’s a climate change denier something she noted should concern all of us. As I typed this commentary, Saturday afternoon, there was a grumble of hope on the horizon; the skies teased with signals of an impending downpour after long spells of heat waves. Blimey! By 5:30pm, the heavenly taps had given way to a heavy downpour. Thank God for the rain; this heat almost killed us! But even as it rained outside, it was still hot inside the house, so hot that I had to pull on my birthday suit. Oh, boy! Have you noticed the heat levels these days? It gets even worse for males who work in banks like me; on top of the neck-tied long sleeved shirt, you are expected to add a jacket, Monday to Friday. Perhaps, we need a court injunction for this kind of dress-code until the heat subsides? Yet in spite of this evidence, it is politically incorrect to say that nature favours women. But political correctness is often incorrect; no wonder it recently given a bloody nose and evicted out of Washington by bluntness. But the rain yesterday didn’t last long. After just ten minutes, the heavy downpour had eased into a light drizzle and by 6pm, the drizzle had fizzled away. So let us face it. We are in trouble. I have watched with total fear in recent years as our weather patterns changed at a terribly fast pace; you may want to crosscheck this with our weather station but in my own observation, Kigali is hotter today than it used to be six years ago! Climate change is real and we don’t need scientific curves to prove it is happening. Look, six years ago, we spent most of our time in jackets to try and stay warm. These days, we soon might petition parliament to introduce the ‘Strip Act’ to allow us wear less because of the heat. I remember in 2009 while on a government assignment in Musanze, I almost went two nights without a shower because of the freezing temperatures then; these days, I hear the place is all heated up like a desert! Same experience I had in Nyaruguru in 2010, near our border with Burundi, the place was so cold I almost learned how to smoke; I am told, it is not as hot anymore. Global warming, a direct effect of climate change, is the increase of the earth’s average surface temperature, as a consequence of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels or from deforestation. So for every truck full of charcoal that you see, it is like turning our local temperature levels up, tenfold; stop cutting trees because the practice is slowly burning us all to death, yet we don’t seem to care. Yesterday I sent an errand boy to go buy me a big bottle of cold Inyange water from the local store, by the time he got back, the water was already warm from the heat yet the shop is a five minute walk from my domicile. On Thursday afternoon, I sauntered out of office to go buy myself a bottle of cold water when on my way back, a girl almost went on her knee, begging, not for a hand in marriage but for sip on my water; everyone is thirsty because of the heat. Before the rains yesterday, I went for a cold shower to cool off the afternoon heat; I almost got scalded! Who boiled the water in my tap? For I own no water heater. It’s time to face effects of climate change. editorial@newtimes.co.rw

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Welcome rain! This heat almost killed us!