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Climate Change is not changing us
2007-11-25 11:40:12
By Deo Mfugale
Next time when you complain about the extreme weather conditions wherever you are, think of the warning given by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
Be it extreme heat or cold, a severe and prolonged drought or flash floods caused by an unexpected torrential downpour - its all contained in the IPCC recent report.
In its Fourth Assessment Report (2007), the Panel warns of several impending disasters if mankind does not respond urgently to Climate Change.
They include temperature increases, sea level rises, and massive damage to agriculture and serious threat to livelihoods. Asia and Africa are likely to suffer most.
However,it appears we are already there, what with the prolonged drought we had in 2005, the flash floods Mwanza city has been experiencing since 2000 and the soaring temperatures in places like Iringa region which is a new experience.
Maziwe Island a few kilometres off Pangani Township on the Indian Ocean has disappeared. It was formerly covered with a forest and other natural vegetation.
Today there isn’t a single plant on it and it can only be seen when the tide is low. At least 160,000 people die annually due to Climate Change(WHO). But we haven’t heard the worst yet.
A recent scientific paper by American Climate Change experts, NASA`s Dr James Hansen and colleagues, says that the IPCC warning is actually under-estimated.
This scientific paper warns of an impending ``cataclysm``, a disaster of unimaginable dimension. ``Recent greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions place the earth perilously close to dramatic climate change that could run out of our control…`` the paper reads in part.
It looks as if it is already too late; that the control systems regulating the global temperature may be too severely damaged. Some scientists say we are beyond the point of no return. So what are we doing about the situation? No much really.
The USA and Australian governments have refused to sign the Kyoto Protocol or to constrain carbon dioxide pollution much as they are among leaders of fossil-fuel carbon dioxide derived pollution. On the other hand, bush fires are common in our country as we continue to cut down trees.
Experts say that an average tree can store 12 kilograms of carbon dioxide and produce enough oxygen for a family of four in a year and one hectare of trees can absorb six tons of carbon dioxide a year.(Plant for the Planet).
The tree planting campaign has not been given the seriousness it deserves. We are yet to take full advantage of the Carbon Financing programme.
Kenya, through, the Green Belt Movement, has secured millions of US dollars from the BioCarbon Fund of the World Bank for a project to plant 1,876 hectares of trees.
We are not changing despite the rising effects of climate change. Now we have Climate Criminals and Climate Victims.
The major Climate Criminals are those countries with the highest annual per capita fossil fuel-derived pollution, particularly the USA and Australia who have refused to sign the Kyoto Protocol.
On the other hand, the major Climate Victims are those countries threatened by Climate Criminals through global warming, drought and inundation through sea level rises.
They are in Africa, South America and Asia which have annual per capita fossil fuel-derived pollution below that of the world (2004 data). But does it really make any difference whether a country is a climate criminal or a climate victim?
Indeed there is a big difference but at the end of the day we all suffer the consequences of Climate Change one way or another. That is why the world must act now to combat Climate Change.
The IPCC and an overwhelming international scientific consensus - all demand urgent action now. Changing our behaviour and taking urgent action now will be far cheaper economically and in terms of saving human life than waiting a little longer.
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