On Monday, October 4th at 12 o’clock, a dam of a lake that had kept red sludge (fluid holding rust, acquired through the processing of aluminum) broke and flooded several villages. The red sludge flooded communities below the hill which the dam was located on: Devecser, Kolontár, Somlóvásárhely, Tuskevár, Apáctornát and Kisberzsényt. But how did this happen? Due to a combination of heavy rain fall and poorly built infrastructure, the wall of the dam broke and the sludge streamed down toward the villages. There were a total of 10 deaths. Most of them were due to drowning, but some people also got toxicated and burnt themselves.    


The red sludge is not the only climate-related disaster that has happened the last couple of years. Worldwide, we see dramatic climate change, which has been connected to the increase in major flooding, and hurricanes. As mentioned above, the red sludge was caused by both human error and heavy rainfall. We can help the victims of the affected villages by donating important supplies. But most importantly we should become more responsible for our consumption because the bad choices we make are contributing to climate change and a build up of toxic pollution. 


Carbon emissions are one of the greatest causes of climate change. This change is most noticeable in the re-distribution of water. Some areas suffer from droughts such as parts of Northern Africa and Australia, whereas other places are getting short but intense levels of precipitation. This causes destructive floods and mud slides. Between 1990 and 2001, flooding affected 1.5 billion people, which is almost a quarter of the world’s population, and it’s clearly getting worse. However, humans are not the only ones who are being displaced. Some animal species cannot cope with the changing weather conditions and are becoming more endangered.


But who is to blame? Companies and governments, with weak policies, are not the only contributors to climate change, as they are looking to us who demand cheap goods. Everyone consumes products that contain toxic wastes and are damaging to the environment if they are not properly recycled. Everyday we are releasing e-waste, which in combination with flooding is destroying communities all over the world. Some of us may still remember when a dam holding toxic cyanide in Romania flooded in year 2000. The contaminated water reached the Tisza river and the Danube where it killed 2000 tons of fish. Also, no-one could have missed the oil spill in the Mexican gulf earlier this year. It put hundreds of species at risk, but it could have been ever more devastating if the hurrican season was stronger.


Right now, nearly one-fifth of Pakistan is covered in water. Right now, New Orleans is still trying to recover from one of the world’s most powerful hurricanes. Right now, many Hungarians have lost everything they had. We can help by contributing to collection drives, but we must also tackle the essential problem from the roots. Every little thing we do can help improve our environment. So use the recycling bins, bring your own water bottle to school, turn of the lights, and pay attention to the products you buy. Be a smart consumer!


By Linn Ternsjö and Evelyn Cools