VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Hurricane Laura hit Texas and Louisiana, United States, with full force or category 4, damaging homes and buildings, even resulting in death. The wind blew up to a speed of 150 miles or about 240 kilometers per hour on Thursday (27/8/2020) at around 01.00 am local time. Laura became the most powerful hurricane to hit Louisiana, even surpassing Katrina, which hit the US in 2005. This disaster evacuation process was also complicated by the Covid-9 pandemic which was also endemic in Texas and Louisiana.

Truly, 2020 is an extraordinary year. Before various countries were hit by the Covid-19 outbreak, since early 2020, at least there have been several major natural disasters that have occurred and affected the world. Take for example, forest and land fires in Australia, glaciers in New Zealand that turned brown, Mount Taal eruption in the Philippines, melting of glaciers in the Himalayas and several other incidents, including massive floods in Jakarta at the beginning of the year. Almost all observers of environmental and climate issues agree that extreme conditions in all parts of the world have something to do with climate change and global warming.

The climate crisis can actually be minimized if the targets of the Paris agreement on the environment can be achieved by all parties, especially those bound by the agreement to reduce the rate of global  temperature rise to below 2 degrees. Even, it is more ambitious below 1.5 degrees and it must be implemented through each country's NDC (Nationally Determined Contribution).

Each country should take a major role in contributing to the problem of the climate crisis because it affects lives and global disasters. In addition, to stop or reduce climate change, mitigation measures must also be taken by reducing the emission of greenhouse gases that cause climate change, which must be done decisively and wisely, especially by big countries.

Hurricane Laura, which hit amid Covid-19 pandemic, is yet again a reminder of how nature calls for comprehensive improvement. It is time for humans to improve a way of life that is more friendly to nature, in order to reduce the possibility of the next disaster.