The poem "Flood" by Pablo Neruda eloquently contrasts the effects of global warming and rising sea levels on poor communities and on enclaves of the rich. The poor often live in low-lying coastal areas that are periodically flooded due to rising seas because these are the only places they can afford. These floods often result in the loss of lives and belongings. Neruda points out that to the rich, the terror and losses from flooding that the poor endure are no more than their due. In contrast, the rich can afford to build houses on higher ground, and no rising waters come close to their homes.

In fact, hundreds of millions of people around the world are threatened by coastal flooding. Many of these people live in poor regions of Asia, Africa, and South America, and poor coastal areas are in danger in the United States as well. The rising seas are at least partially caused by human pollution that gets trapped in the atmosphere, warming the air and the seas, causing the melting of glaciers and ice sheets, which in turn cause sea levels to rise and coastal areas to flood. This is an ongoing environmental threat that is already creating human crises around the world. According to scientists, far too little is being done in the way of laws and regulations to mitigate this warming of the atmosphere and seas.

Pablo Neruda wrote this poem many decades ago, but whether it was intentional or not, it turns out to be prophetic about our current environmental concerns.