Rob Nixon: Gov't Inaction on Climate Change Is "Slow Violence" That Hits World's Poor the Hardest

With unprecedented fires, floods and heat waves sweeping the globe, 2018 is on track to be the fourth-hottest year on record. The regions most affected by the disastrous effects of global warming are overwhelmingly not the countries that have contributed the most to climate change. According to the 2018 Global Climate Risk Index released by the public policy group Germanwatch, the nine countries most affected by climate change in the past 20 years are developing nations, including Honduras, Haiti, Burma, Pakistan and Bangladesh. The Indian government says more than 500 people have died as a result of flooding and heavy rains in recent weeks. In Iran, there is a chronic shortage of water, and it is estimated there is some form of drought in 97 percent of the country. We speak with Rob Nixon, professor in the humanities and the environment at Princeton University. He is the author of "Slow Violence and the Environmentalism of the Poor."