Welcome to My Worst Nightmare: Burnt Trees, Dead Rivers, Sleepless Nights

We were warned long ago that this would happen, that the climate would be the main focus of our attention. And clearly, we were also warned that some would suffer more than others; that there would be an exodus of people to more comfortable areas; that food would be scarce, and that would lead to a rise in the prices of essentials goods and clearly, to ruin it all further, extreme times always lead people to elect the wrong people.

I’m already seeing this again in America, which influences the rest of the world for better or worse. Even a Black American writer has stated how he is leaning towards voting for Donald Trump in 20224, proving what I wrote so much about in my MA thesis on internalized racism.

Many already blame Joe Biden for the existence of inflation — and far be it from me to like Joe Biden; he’s a conservative man anyway. But again, most Americans live as if only their country exists on this planet. Inflation is all over the world, not just in the US. But this rhetoric is the same that fuels fanatics who, in 2024, will possibly run out to vote for Trump instead of saying, “screw these two jerks! We need something different!”

But as Rome wasn’t built in a day, so the culture of the American people will not change overnight, if ever, in time for anything. And those who think that the Americans are not also suffering from the climate crisis … well, think twice! The fires in California, the floods in Kentucky, the lack of water in many states in the interior of the United States, and clearly the galloping inflation in the country should be reason enough for people to finally see what more than obvious is:

That we are living in that future that so many climatologists predicted not so long ago.

What is even more alarming is how everything is happening faster than anticipated and how everything seems to be simultaneously collapsing. You only have to turn on the television, read the newspaper, or simply step outside onto the street to see red flags everywhere.

Whether it’s the spread of monkeypox that’s already putting the state of California, New York, and Illinois on alert; whether it’s the war in Ukraine that we’re gradually almost forgetting about — that’s what happens with prolonged violence, it’s accepted as normality — and Antonio Gueterres’ warning of the constant alert of the danger of nuclear weapons;

Whether it’s inflation and the lack of grain, both because they’re landlocked in Ukraine and because the prolonged drought has caused crops to die, it makes you wonder what we are going to die off. They could give us just one way, but everything seems to happen simultaneously.

And me too. I am writing these words after only two hours of sleep because the infernal temperatures are striking again. With temperatures of 27 degrees Celcius (80.6 degrees Fahrenheit) at night, it is the reason no one is able to sleep.

It almost reminds me of Spike Lee’s film Do The Right Thing, when people freaked out in a hot summer, and violence broke out more spontaneously in the streets.

This happens here too. Those who sleep little are more likely to get irritated by the smallest things. I, too, got upset this morning, begging my husband for us to get away from here. But I admit that life is easier for me; I work online, I could live anywhere in the world, I could escape from here and go to Inverness in Scotland — believe me, yesterday, when I couldn’t sleep, I looked for a place where it was raining, and that’s what I found.

But the same doesn’t happen to him. And this isn’t the solution either. What would become of the world if we all ran away to a calmer land? It wouldn’t be new, though, would it? Humans have been doing it forever and will continue doing it.

Meanwhile, I remain shut in here, trying to cover the skylights as much as possible to try to keep the heat out. Many people think of places with sun and associate it with tanned skin, health, and happiness.

However, I can assure you that these temperatures do not tan any skin, for the simple fact that it is impossible to be in the sun. And I, who have always felt so badly about the heat, every time at the end of the day I go to the river — what little is left of it — and walk, even when the temperatures have dropped, I feel almost faint in the middle of the street.

Yesterday was no exception. I routinely finish classes, leave the house around seven in the afternoon and walk for about ten minutes until I reach the river that passes through my village, which I love so much. On my way to the river, I noticed the trees' leaves. What I saw left me desolate.

The leaves were burnt like the vines whose grapes seemed to rot before they were even ripe.

The heat is so great that it seems that all of nature is being cooked in a giant oven. The water still flowing in the river also seemed to come from the tap. It was hot and getting less with each passing day.

I now walk across a river that had always prevented me from passing to the other bank for a long time. Its water that used to spring strongly and fall from a small waterfall is no more. Only a small trickle of water flows, and water that stands still and warms up.

That area had always been full of various birds, dragonflies, and blue, yellow, and orange butterflies. But clearly, the lack of water and even the high temperature in the only place I could cool off is also killing the animals.

And several animals living in the forests are leaving and heading to farms to look for water. Here is a picture of a neighbor of my parents’ farm who photographed a family of wild boars searching for water near the irrigation systems this morning. If this isn’t pitiful, I don’t know what is.

I swear I didn't want to write this kind of article again. And I swear I’m not doing it for the sake of a few dollars I might get out of it. I’m not that kind of person. I wanted to write about films, art, poetry, Portugal, Italy, the books I’ve been reading, and what I’ve been teaching my students. After all, why do I even have a MA in Pop Culture and American Culture when I can’t focus on that?

But how can I even privilege that part that makes us human when outside the world collapses and I feel it in every cell of my body, both in my skin with the heat and in my brain with the lack of sleep?

You can’t privilege philosophy when basic needs plague you.

And so, this is where humanity draws its line between an animalistic organization and the end of its civilization. There is no civilization, culture, or society on a hostile planet.

As we say in Portugal, “where there is no bread, everyone fights and no one is right!

Hello, I’m Araci, a female writer from Portugal. I like to write about my country, Portugal. But I also enjoy pop culture, American culture, and cultural differences. I hope you’ve enjoyed this article!

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