TUTICORIN, India – Among the 75 government agencies that manage and regulate this bewitching and often impassioned nation, there is no Ministry of the Future. There should be.

There are many questions about where President Trump and the new administration stands on energy and climate policy, but new survey data gives a better picture of what the American public thinks.

With countries declaring drought emergencies and islands facing inundation, it can be difficult to turn away from the big picture when it comes to climate change. If we are to build a climate-resilient society, though, we must look to resilience at its origins, says one group of experts: the individual.

Do you experience information overload? Feel like there’s always another crisis to worry about? Sense a kind of chaos? Well, you may be a citizen of the early 21^st century.

“Climate work is practical, common-sense, good development,” said Carrie Thompson, deputy assistant administrator at the Bureau for Economic Growth, Education, and Environment at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). “It’s prevention, and we all know that preventative medicine is the best medicine.”

Last month, headlines around the world heralded a breakthrough for international environmental cooperation. During ongoing ozone treaty negotiations in Rwanda, China broke with the developing world, agreeing with the United States to aggressively phase out hydrofluorocarbons, a significant global warming pollutant found in refrigerators and air conditioners. These changes are expected to make a big difference in combating climate change, mitigating half a Celsius degree of warming.

A recent report by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warns that over the next 15 years, climate change will add to the number of people living in poverty via its effects on the agriculture and food sectors. By 2030, climate-related effects on food-related livelihoods could lead to an additional 35 to 122 million impoverished people, according to the 2016 State of Food and Agriculture Report.

There may not have been a single question about climate change in the 2016 presidential debates, but it remains a hotly contested, partisan issue for many in the United States. That climate change is happening and requires a response is not up for debate within the upper echelons of the U.S. military, however.