How is Climate Change Reshaping Our Lives in 2026?
- Seoyoung Kwon
- Aug 8
- 6 min read
Climate change is no longer a distant environmental concern. Its effects are increasingly visible in the systems that support everyday life, from the water we drink and the infrastructure we depend on to food production, energy security and human mobility.
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) confirmed that 2015–2025 were the eleven hottest years on record, with 2025 approximately 1.43°C warmer than the 1850–1900 average. Extreme heat, heavy rainfall, droughts and tropical cyclones continue to affect millions of people and generate significant economic losses worldwide.
For JHSUSTAIN, these changes are particularly important because many of the most serious consequences of climate change are ultimately experienced through water.
Climate Risk and Water Disaster
A warmer world does not simply mean higher temperatures.
Climate change is intensifying the global water cycle, changing when, where and how much rain falls. According to the IPCC, additional warming increases the frequency and intensity of heavy rainfall while also increasing agricultural and ecological drought in many regions. Globally, the intensity of heavy precipitation is expected to increase by roughly 7% for every 1°C of warming.
This creates seemingly contradictory risks.
Some communities face increasingly intense rainfall and flooding. Others experience prolonged drought, declining water availability and greater wildfire risk. Melting glaciers affect long-term freshwater reserves, while rising sea levels increase pressure on coastal communities and freshwater systems.
The result is not simply “more” or “less” water, but greater uncertainty in how water is distributed across time and space.
And in 2026, these risks are already visible around the world.
What climate extremes look like in 2026
Puerto Rico: drought and water insecurity
In Puerto Rico, severe drought has pushed water security to the forefront of the climate discussion.
San Juan recorded its driest July in more than 120 years, while severe and moderate drought affected large parts of the island. More than 180,000 customers were placed on rotating 48-hour water outages as reservoirs and water systems came under increasing pressure.
Governor Jenniffer González described the uncertainty surrounding the crisis simply:
“This situation is out of our hands. Nothing prevents this from worsening.”
The situation also demonstrates an important aspect of climate resilience: climate hazards interact with existing infrastructure weaknesses. Drought may reduce available water, but ageing infrastructure, inadequate investment and management constraints can determine how severely communities ultimately experience that shortage.
Southern Africa: extreme rainfall and flooding
At the other end of the water spectrum, Southern Africa experienced devastating flooding in early 2026.
Extreme rainfall affected Mozambique, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Eswatini, with hundreds of thousands of people affected and major damage to homes, roads, bridges, crops and other infrastructure. WMO reported that Mozambique alone had more than 650,000 people affected during the floods.
A World Weather Attribution analysis found that climate change and La Niña combined to create what researchers described as a “perfect storm”. The intensity of extreme rainfall in the region has increased by around 40% compared with pre-industrial conditions, illustrating how natural climate variability can interact with long-term global warming to produce more destructive events.
This distinction matters. Climate change does not necessarily create every flood or drought, but it can alter the likelihood and severity of the conditions in which those disasters occur.
Europe: extreme heat becomes a systemic risk
Europe has also experienced exceptional heat in 2026.
Scientists found that the severe Western European heatwave in late June would have been virtually impossible without human-induced climate change. Around 45% of more than 800 European cities analysed recorded or were expected to experience record levels of late-June heat stress.
The effects extended far beyond uncomfortable temperatures. Schools closed, electricity systems came under pressure and health risks increased considerably. More than 10,000 excess deaths were recorded across Europe during the peak week of the late-June heatwave, with older people particularly affected.
Later in the summer, extreme heat continued across the continent, contributing to wildfires, low river levels and pressure on electricity generation and transport networks.
Heat therefore needs to be understood not merely as a meteorological hazard, but as a risk to public health, water resources, energy systems, transportation and urban infrastructure.
Korea is not exempt
Korea has its own history of climate and water-related disasters.
Typhoon Rusa in 2002 and the severe Seoul flooding and landslide of 2011 demonstrated the country's vulnerability to extreme rainfall and urban flood risk. These historical events are also highlighted in JHSUSTAIN's updated climate material.
In 2026, however, extreme heat has become an equally urgent concern.
On 2 August, Yangsan reached 42.5°C, the highest temperature recorded in South Korea in 122 years of observations. The government subsequently treated the ongoing heatwave as a national disaster as heat-related illnesses and deaths increased and pressure mounted on electricity and public infrastructure.
These events illustrate an important shift in climate adaptation. Resilience is no longer only about responding to individual disasters. Cities and infrastructure increasingly need to be designed for multiple interacting hazards — floods, heatwaves, drought, water shortages and extreme rainfall — under changing climate conditions.
Water does not stop at national borders
Climate change becomes even more complex when rivers and water resources cross borders.
The Mekong River Basin, for example, connects China, Myanmar, Lao PDR, Thailand, Cambodia and Viet Nam. Changes in rainfall, drought, sea-level rise and river flows interact with hydropower development, agriculture, ecosystem degradation and competing demands for water.
Central Asia provides another striking example. The dramatic decline of the Aral Sea, situated downstream of the Amu Darya and Syr Darya river systems, demonstrates how intensive water use, environmental degradation and changing climatic conditions can combine to transform an entire regional water system. These two transboundary examples are also incorporated into the updated JHSUSTAIN material.
Such cases show why climate adaptation is not purely a technical issue.
It is also a governance issue.
Climate resilience depends on how countries and institutions share information, coordinate water allocation, manage upstream and downstream interests and plan for increasingly uncertain hydrological conditions.
From “climate refugees” to climate displacement
One of the most human consequences of climate change is its influence on where people are able to live.
Floods, storms, drought, wildfire, sea-level rise and declining agricultural productivity can temporarily or permanently force people from their homes.
However, the language used to describe this phenomenon has evolved. While “climate refugee” is commonly used in public discussion, it is not a recognised legal category under international refugee law. UNHCR therefore recommends terms such as people displaced in the context of disasters and climate change, while “climate migration” is also widely used when discussing the broader relationship between climate change and human mobility.
This is one area where I would specifically update the old JHSUSTAIN blog. Your new presentation already moves from climate refugees towards Climate Migrants, which is much closer to current international terminology.
The scale of displacement is substantial. According to the 2026 Global Report on Internal Displacement, disasters triggered approximately 29.9 million internal displacements during 2025, while around 13.6 million people were still living in internal displacement as a result of disasters at the end of the year.
Looking further ahead, the World Bank estimates that climate change could contribute to as many as 216 million internal climate migrants across six world regions by 2050 under a high-impact scenario. Importantly, it also estimates that strong climate and development action could reduce the scale of this migration substantially.
The question, therefore, is not simply “Who is responsible for climate migration?”
It is also:
How can countries reduce displacement risk before people are forced to leave?
From climate risk to climate resilience
The climate risks visible in 2026 reinforce the importance of moving from reactive disaster response towards long-term resilience.
This means integrating climate risk into infrastructure planning and design, strengthening water-resource management, improving early-warning systems, protecting vulnerable communities, applying nature-based solutions where appropriate and strengthening cooperation across administrative and national boundaries.
WMO notes that disaster-related mortality is significantly lower in countries with strong early-warning coverage, demonstrating that climate impacts are not determined by hazards alone. Preparedness, institutions, infrastructure and governance matter.
For international development, this is especially important. Many countries that have contributed relatively little to historical greenhouse-gas emissions are also among those facing the greatest exposure and the fewest resources with which to adapt.
Climate change therefore raises not only environmental questions, but also questions of development, inequality, governance and resilience.
Looking ahead
Climate change is already affecting water availability, infrastructure, ecosystems, economies and human mobility. The impacts can be seen in drought-stricken Puerto Rico, flood-affected Southern Africa, heat-stressed European cities and record temperatures here in Korea.
The challenge now is no longer simply to recognise that climate change is occurring.
It is to ensure that the systems, infrastructure and institutions on which people depend are prepared for the climate conditions ahead.
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