Everyday Stories of Climate Change

When we talk about climate change, we often use abstract ideas such as
‘the planet is warming,’ ‘global sea levels are rising’ or ‘rainfall is becoming
more unpredictable.’ But, how do these changes actually impact the daily
lives of ‘ordinary’ families across the world?
In this comic, you will travel to five countries and explore the everyday ways
that low-income families experience climate change. The stories shine a light
on some of the overlooked and ‘mundane’ impacts of climate change for
those who are often left to shoulder much of the responsibility to adapt and
recover.
In Bangladesh, you will learn how sea-level rise is impacting women’s
domestic duties. From there, you will head to South Africa where drought
is experienced differently based on a person’s race, linked to the country’s
apartheid history. Next, you will cross the Atlantic Ocean to Bolivia and
discover how migration allows families to adapt to climate change, but that
separation of family members can also strain relationships. Your fourth stop
is Puerto Rico, where food security is an issue after hurricane Maria. The final
destination is the Caribbean Island, Barbuda, where people are resisting
‘disaster capitalists’ after hurricane Irma.
All the stories are based on our primary research. The characters are
fictionalised, but their stories reflect some of the shared experiences of the
people we spoke to. We could not include every finding and so we ask
that you bring your own knowledge of the world to fill in the gaps, silences
and blank spaces in the comic. We aimed to bring through the personalities,
humour, voices, and identities of people because the media often
homogenise people into groups such as ‘climate victims’ or ‘poor people’