Like millions of people across the world, I tune-in to watch the mega TV series, Game of Thrones every week. Season 5 episode 8 seemed more than just a story of Westeros to me

If you haven’t watched the episode 8 of season 5 or the Game of Thrones TV series yet, then please don’t read beyond this point because spoilers are coming.

By Cyanide Studio (Cyanide Studio) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

The implications of the Stark words, ‘Winter is Coming’ became clearer after the events at Hardhome. An army of undead, zombie-like White Walkers is Westeros’ biggest threat.

While Lord Commander Jon Snow was trying to win over the wildlings, warning them of the imminent threat, all I could think was ‘Climate Change!’.

I wasn’t the only one thinking about this. George R. R. Martin, author of the Game of Thrones book series, confirmed references to climate change in the series.

“I mean, we have things going on in our world right now like climate change, that’s, you know, ultimately a threat to the entire world. But people are using it as a political football instead of, you know … You’d think everybody would get together.

This is something that can wipe out possibly the human race. So I wanted to do an analogue not specifically to the modern-day thing but as a general thing with the structure of the book.” – George R.R. Martin, in an interview with Al Jazeera, America in 2013.

If that’s not enough of a hint, then check out this video, which does a fantastic job of explaining this analogy.

Houses of Lannister, Baratheon, Tyrell, Targaryen, Bolton and other are busy playing the game of thrones, trying to gain control over the coveted Iron Throne. Just like the governments and wealthy corporations of our world refuse to acknowledge the problem of climate change, these powerful ruling clans of Westeros deny the existence of White Walkers.

They even ignore the Night’s Watch warning and pleas for help. Meanwhile the ordinary folks or the Wildlings in the Game of Thrones universe are dealing with the consequences of the growing army of White Walkers.

Sounds familiar?

In the next couple of years the story of Game of Thrones will reach a conclusion. Back in our real world, we’ll still be dealing with the impacts of climate change.

Like the wildlings and the Night’s Watch we’ll have to join forces to stop this threat. To really make a difference, we are going to need the governments and the wealthy corporations of the world to look beyond their petty interests. Whether you agree or not, “Winter is coming, and you know what comes with it.”