As we drove up to Mt. Rainier, the natural beauty of the massive stratovolcano instantly enchanted me. I felt as though I was in the Swiss Alps, the childhood place I loved more than anywhere else. After hiking for a few hours, my family and I visited the tourist information center. This is where I saw two pictures that caught me off guard. The two pictures were of one of Mt. Rainier’s glaciers. The pictures showed what the glacier looked like in the summer during the first half of the 20^th century and what it looked like in more recent years. When I saw the two pictures, I immediately felt a sense of sadness wash over me. The glacier in the more recent picture was much thinner and further up the side of the mountain than in the older picture. I realized at that moment that the glacier would continue to pull back in the coming years as a result of climate change. In my mind the glacier’s fate seemed inevitable. I felt as though, 16-year-old Shara could do nothing to stop the changing natural environment of a place I had instantly fallen in love with. I felt powerless against the enormity of climate change. However, I recently discovered a group of youth climate activists that, unlike my then 16-year-old self, realize they are not powerless against trying to prevent further climate change.

On May 4^th, Our Children’s Trust (OCT), an Oregon-based environmental nonprofit founded by Julia Olson in July 2010, joined forces with Kids vs. Global Warming to launch a first-time youth-led effort to force the US government to take action on climate change. After initially discovering what was taking place, I became quite intrigued and decided I needed to find out more. I became particularly interested in the case because I remember my 16-year-old self as a person who didn’t try to do anything to protect the place I so quickly became captivated by. This makes the youth plaintiffs who are filing lawsuits against the US federal government and all 50 states to ensure carbon emissions reductions in order to prevent a climate change catastrophe personally inspiring. The lawsuits are exceptional because they represent the first time climate case plaintiffs are youths and highlight youth concern and efforts towards climate change policymaking.

So far, OCT has filed lawsuits in federal court in nine states, one notice of intent to sue, and 39 petitions for rule making. The legal actions presented in the filings are referred to as “Atmospheric Trust Litigation (ATL).” ATL is based on the extensive history of what is known as the Public Trust Doctrine, which enables courts to protect natural resources such as water or in this case, the atmosphere, for the well-being of society and future generations. The fundamental objective of ATL is to obtain judicial rulings at both the federal and state levels to implement fossil fuel emissions reductions and forest protection, based on the latest scientific findings, not political constraints.

As I read through the official Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief OTC presented to the US District Court- Northern California District, I was amazed by the dedication and accomplishments of the youth plaintiffs. Sixteen-year-old Alec Loorz, founder of Kids vs. Global Warming, particularly caught my attention. At the young age of 12, Alec founded the non-profit because he wanted to educate youth around the world about the human-caused climate crisis. Since then, he has spent his teenage years focused on researching, writing, and speaking to other youth about how burning fossil fuels has led to imbalanced Earth systems. More recently, Alex began the iMatter March, a series of over 100 marches across the US and 25 countries, including marches in London and Manchester, to empower youth to organize and have their voices heard on the issue of global climate change. Alec is one example of the five inspiring climate-conscious plaintiffs described in the official complaint.

After reading the backgrounds of the youth plaintiffs, I was amazed and inspired by what each plaintiff has already contributed to the climate discussion. I never thought at age 22, 15 and 16-year-olds would inspire me. Simply said, I’m inspired. These activists particularly captivate me because the youth are only six or seven years younger than me. As a result, I seem unable to let go of this feeling, well if they can do this, why can’t I? Their dedication to climate causes makes me realize although I was an inactive 16-year-old, it doesn’t mean my 22-year-old self has to be the same. I do have the ability to do more in my daily life and within my own community. I simply need to gather up my courage and go for it. The youth plaintiffs have.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I recently attended a Climate Wise Women event in London at the St. Bride Foundation entitled, Climate Wise Women: Connecting the Global to Local on Climate Change, which featured two Climate Wise Women, Constance Okollet, Chair of the Osukuru United Women’s Network in Eastern Uganda and Ursula Ravoka, Executive Director of Tulele Peisa. Special guest speakers, Ruth Bond, chair of the National Federation of Women’s Institutes and Victoria Johnson, senior researcher and head of climate change and energy at New Economics Foundation were also invited to speak at the event. Francesca de Gasparis of Green Belt Movement moderated the panel discussion.

As I look back on the event, there are two key ideas that struck a cord with me that I am incapable of letting go. The first is that climate change is human induced. Of course, there are natural climate fluctuations, probably the most standard argument of skeptics who argue against climate change. However, the changes experienced in the last few decades are simply unprecedented.

Let’s recall Constance and the people of her village. When I heard Constance tell her story, she powerfully described how in 2007, the time the region started experiencing the devastating periods of flooding and drought, the villagers started asking themselves, “What have we done to make God so angry? Is God trying to finish off his people?” In 2009 when Oxfam came to their village, the villagers were shocked to finally learn climate change was human-induced. This new knowledge transformed the outlook of Constance’s community. As a result of the fact that humans had significantly contributed to climate change; the people realized that humans could also be the driving force behind changing the current situation. The villagers also realized, modern “rich” societies (as Constance would say) need to change the way society functions, in order to prevent negative climate change consequences, which have and continue to destroy the lives of the world’s poorest peoples.

What we are experiencing already and what we will continue to experience in upcoming years, is the result of human activities that began with the industrial revolution over two centuries ago and have continued until today. Because climate change is almost entirely human-made, we have the ability to change our actions in order to prevent further climate change and seek ways of adapting to new climate realities.

Climate change may not be noticeable when we look in our own backyards. However, our way of living, to a certain extent, has enabled us to play “God” over the people of Uganda and other regions because these people feel the consequences of industrialized nations’ actions. As a result, change needs to occur. Instead of living in ways that negatively affect others, we should begin to find ways to consider how others are affected by our actions. I still remember learning the Golden Rule from my Lutheran education as a young child. “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” It’s a simple, yet powerful message that has stuck with me throughout my life and represents a way of living I try to follow. It’s also a message that can be applied towards climate change prevention. For example, the decision to drive 10 km versus bike 10 km to work each day can be viewed through the lens of the Golden Rule. If I decide to drive 10 km instead of biking 10 km to work five days a week, my personal Co2 emissions contribute, if even only minimally, to the climate conditions Constance and the people of her village face. Now multiply this action by let’s say 500 million and all of a sudden the action becomes a lot more serious. Would we want Constance to act in a similar “less-than-optimal” manner on a daily basis if we knew that her actions would lead to negative consequences for the people living in our communities? I pretty sure we would not. This leads me to my second point.

Climate change is a human rights issue. Every climate story I have heard, including both Constance and Ursula’s stories, always comes to the same conclusion: people want to be able to live the lives they have always lived. The ability to maintain traditional ways of life is a significant part of a rich cultural identity. It is a basic human desire. People do not want to have to change their entire livelihoods because citizens of developed nations are unwilling to change their unsustainable lifestyles. However, they have no choice. Adaptation is the only option because another option simply doesn’t exist.

Although I am incapable of determining the extent of God’s influence on the climate change issue, I am certain we are capable of changing the way we go about our daily lives in order to significantly alter the seemingly unfortunate fate of our planet at its people. We should all remember the powerful message that has stayed with me since primary school, when we approach climate change issues and try to find solutions to prevent further destruction and new methods of adaptation.

We do have the power to change if we are finally able to work with one another. However, changing the way in which societies operate is something that cannot be done alone; it needs to take place systemically across industries, state lines and even countries. Although this appears to be a daunting feat, it is possible. What we need now more than ever is inspiration, passion and determination. It is not impossible to change the way society operates in industrialized nations, so people like Constance can preserve their way of life. The main obstacle is getting people to realize we cannot wait another ten, twenty or even thirty years. Change needs to happen now.

Constance Okollet is a mother of seven from an Eastern Ugandan village and is Chairperson of the Osukuru United Women’s Network, a network that focuses on three areas: agriculture, education and health. The network is a lobby and advocacy platform for the “voiceless,” women and children who seek to call the attention of the government. Additionally, the network mobilizes and trains its members in income-generating activities, environmental conservation and climate change adaptation methods. One of the most important means of adaptation is the use of modern agricultural methods, which will help provide food security in the region by employing farming techniques that decrease crop vulnerability. It also mentors and counsels school children and improves community health.

This is a recount of Constance’s gripping story:

Until a few years ago, Constance, like the rest of the people in her village, was unable to explain what has happening to the natural environment where she lived. The story begins in 2007 when Eastern Uganda experienced excessive rain that began in July and didn’t end until September. The rains resulted in severe flooding and the need for Constance and her fellow villagers to seek higher ground for refuge. By the time the villagers returned home all of their crops had been destroyed and washed away, their livestock killed and their homes collapsed. As a result of the flooding, food was scarce and the people had to rely on rations provided by the government, which had been humiliating for the people of Constance’s village because they had never previously depended on aid for survival. To add to the devastation, the local water supply was contaminated, which led to increased numbers of mosquitoes. A combination of inadequate nutrition and contaminated water led to many people in the village becoming sick with diarrhea, malaria and cholera, which resulted in the deaths of many. Following the flood, children didn’t go to school because they were too weakened by disease and their parents, stricken by the loss of their agricultural income, couldn’t afford to pay the tuition fees.

Eventually, the government provided Constance’s village with the necessary seeds to plant new crops, but a few months later the drought came, which killed all of the crops and dried up the well where the women would go to collect water. During the drought, the women of the village would spend hours each day looking for water while their children went to school hungry. In April 2009, the region was once again hit with unrelenting rain followed by a six-month drought from April to September. After the drought, heavy rains returned, which resulted in a mudslide that covered three nearby villages and took many more lives. The mudslide was followed by yet another severe drought. The weather patterns that Ugandan communities have faced in recent years have been unlike anything Constance had previously experienced in her lifetime. As she explained, Uganda previously had four predictable seasons with droughts occurring once every five to ten years. Now she says, the seasons have become highly unpredictable with basically two seasons instead of four, with droughts occurring on an annual basis.

This is just one example of the how climate change is affecting the lives of large populations of people in one of the world’s poorest regions. Of course, there are many other stories that could and should be told. From this account it may seem as though Eastern Uganda is experiencing a seemingly endless cycle of devastating weather. Once the rain stops, drought kicks in for about six months. Then the rain comes back, followed by drought once again. Basically, it’s a predictable cycle of destruction. What makes the cycle particularly destructive for the villagers is that their crops are destroyed from too much water during the periods of heavy rain and then lack of water during droughts. As a result, food scarcity and hunger are serious issues. Furthermore, due to the lack of proper nutrition, the villagers have become more susceptible to potentially fatal diseases.

Until 2009, Constance and the members of her community did not understand why the harsh weather conditions kept coming back. Constance remembers the villagers asking themselves, “What have we done to make God so angry? Is God trying to finish off his people?” However, Constance was not content with simply asking these questions. She was determined to find an answer to what she saw happening to her village. In April 2009, Oxfam visited her village and the villagers finally learned that climate change, induced by human activities, was causing the floods and droughts, not God’s anger because of wrongdoings they had committed, and that industrialized nations were (and remain) the major culprits.

This knowledge transformed the outlook of Constance’s community. Humans had significantly contributed to climate change. Because of this fact, the villagers realized humans also have the power to change the current situation. With this powerful notion in mind, Constance decided that she needed to speak with world leaders to tell her story of how people were getting poorer and poorer and in some cases dying as a result of climate change. She decided she needed to ask the leaders of industrialized nations to take action towards reducing carbon emissions. With Oxfam’s help, Constance traveled to New York for the 2009 UN Summit on Climate Change to tell her story.

While in New York Constance met Tracy Mann, a New York City-based music business public relations professional, in addition to other women who had come to share their own climate change stories. Tracy created the event ‘Global Women Take Action on Climate Change,’ which was originally presented by the tcktcktck campaign for a group of journalists and important guests coinciding with the UN General Assembly High Level Event on Climate Change and the Clinton Global Initiative. The event was so successful that the mayor of Copenhagen requested a similar program for the UN Framework on Climate Change, which took place on December 14, 2009 and was hosted by Mary Robinson, former president of Ireland, and Major Bjerregaard of Copenhagen. As a result of New York and Copenhagen, the Climate Wise Women was born comprised of women from Biloxi, Mississippi, the Cook Islands and Uganda.

As a founding member of CW2, Constance has toured North America and Europe telling her story to students, mothers, leaders and politicians about how climate change is affecting her community. Constance’s story is not only a story of devastation, but it is also a story of hope. It is a story of people who have fallen victim to climate change induced devastation, but it is also a story of survivors who are trying to adapt to the new conditions in which they live. As Constance concluded her recount, she stressed the need to maintain hope and the need for people in rich countries to take action and reduce carbon emissions, which make basic survival in Eastern Uganda a daily challenge.

CW2’s European tour is the second international tour for the organization since its founding by Tracy Mann, veteran New York-based music business public relations professional, in 2009 during the UN Climate Summit in New York City. The tour follows the women’s highly successful 2010 North American tour during which women from Biloxi, Mississippi, The Cook Islands and Uganda spoke at 16 different events sharing their stories.

The women began their international European tour in the UK on April 11 with a two-day stop in Dublin followed by two days in London. I had the pleasure of attending the CW2’s first London event on April 13 entitled, Climate Wise Women: Connecting the Global to Local on Climate Change at the St. Bride Foundation with special guest speakers, Ruth Bond, Chair of the National Federation of Women’s Institutes and Victoria Johnson, New Economics Foundation, with Francesca de Gasparis, Green Belt Movement, acting as moderator of the panel discussion. The event featured two Climate Wise Women, Constance Okollet, Chair of the Osukuru United Women’s Network in Eastern Uganda and Ursula Ravoka, Executive Director of Tulele Peisa, (“sailing the waves on our own”) a local community organization in Papua New Guinea that is trying to relocate the entire island community of the Carterets to nearby Bougainville Island because of sea level rise. Scientists estimate the Carteret Islands will be fully submerged by 2015. The CW2 spoke the following day in London for a second time before traveling to continental Europe for their final European destination: the University of Hamburg where the women spoke at the Asien-Afrika-Institute. Both Constance and Ursula shared their unique stories at all events throughout the CW2 European tour.

The CW2 event I attended in London was the first climate change event I had been to. As a result of Constance and Ursula sharing their personal stories, the event was particularly powerful because the women gave a human face to the people who experience the effects of climate change throughout their daily lives. For many of us living in industrialized nations, it’s probably quite difficult to truly comprehend or even identify with the people we read of in newspapers and magazines who are severely affected by climate change. Until the CW2 event, I had never seen someone speak who has personally experienced the harsh consequences of climate change. After hearing Constance and Ursula’s heart wrenching stories, I was able to better comprehend the reality of something I had already known; real people and communities are suffering the negative consequences of climate change every day.

Hearing the women speak was a personal wake up call because it made me realize my own day-to-day lifestyle contributes to the climate realities of Constance and Ursula’s communities. This has helped me begin to reevaluate my own way of living.

The commentary given by Ruth and Victoria during the panel discussion complimented Constance and Ursula’s stories because the women discussed what climate actions the organizations they represent are already taking. In addition, Ruth and Victoria highlighted what can and should be done in industrialized nations today and in the future in order to reduce the effects of climate change. The women discussed how we should work cohesively with our ‘sisters’ in regions of the world that are already experiencing the effects of climate change. Overall, the event was particularly powerful because not only did it give a face to the people who are suffering from climate change, but it also highlighted what is already being done and what needs to start happening today.

For further information or if you wish to donate to the Climate Wise Women please visit their official website: www.climatewisewomen.org.

At first I simply could not think of what area of interest  I was going to focus and write on. However, personal experiences/developing events during the time eventually made the choice quite simple.

Although, I haven’t written a new post in almost two years and I am no longer a student at USC, my interest in climate issues, discussion and action has not subsided, but instead has become even stronger. Therefore, I’ve decided to start writing again. Why not? It was always personally fulfilling two years ago. I’m sure it will be today as well.

The next few blog posts are derived from research I have been conducting for Prof. Gail Whiteman that focus on climate change, climate justice and the role of mothers in climate change discussion and action. Additionally, I review the legal actions that are currently taking place in the US as a result of youth concern towards climate change policymaking.

I’m looking forward to becoming an active member of the blogosphere once again!

 It is a great three-minute-long animated video that explains, for a person of any age or background knowledge, what has happened, is happening, and needs to take place in order to halt and reduce the rapidly increasing side effects of climate change. 

This video is great because represents how something as simple as a cartoon, or more specifically, a climatoon, has the potential to inform people about issues people may have been previously unaware of. Additionally, the fact that the climate change information is presented in cartoon form and that the video uses a simplistic way of informing the audience, suggests that this video is not an adult-only video, but also designed so kids are able to learn from it as well. 

The climatoon is a great break from the usual articles on climate change issues and I look forward to seeing new climatoons emerge as the United Nations Climate Change Conference began its last week of discussion today in the Copenhagen.

The money, contributed voluntarily by the E.U.’s 27-nation bloc will be made availabe in 2010 and is supposed  to go towards a global $10 billion ($3.6 billion contributed annually by the E.U.) annual short-term fund between 2010 and 2012.  Of the $3.6 billion fund France, Germany and Britan each contributed about 20 pecent to the fund making these three nations the greatest contributors.

On Thursday, E.U. leaders failed to reach an agreement on the amount the member nations would contribute to the fund, causing embarassment for E.U. leaders because the member nations have continuously attempted to position themselves as leaders for the fight against cliamte change. However, today, the E.U. reached the final figure of $3.6 billion per year for the next three years.

While the E.U.’s mult-billion dollar pledge may be seen as the bloc’s attempt to remain at the forefront of the battle to prevent climate change, some critics noted, as reported by Time.com, “the $10 billion-a-year aid pales in comparison to the huge stimulus packages and bank bailouts paid by many governments in the wake of the global financial meltdown. Financier George Soros, speaking Thursday in Copenhagen, dismissed the $10 billion figure as inadequate for the scope of change that poor countries need to enact.”

Some critics believe that the E.U.’s contribution may not be seen as enough in comparision to other governmental financial commitments , but at least the bloc has commited itself to concrete aid figures. As of yet, it has to be determined how much other developed nations including the United States and Japan will give to poor nations to combat climate change.

Yes, the money pledged by the E.U. may be less than some nations’ stimulus packages and bail-outs, it is still important to recognize that the voluntary aide commitment by the E.U. is a step in the right direction towards a legally binding financial commitment by developed nations to aide poorer nations.

 I look forward to see how much monetary aide other nations will commit to as the U.N. Climate Change Conference contiunes. I am particularly interested to see how much, if any, the United States will commit to combat the effects of climate change.

One of the leading developing nations speaking out against developed nations is China. China’s chief climate negociator, Su Wei told reporters that “developed countries shoulder a historical responsibility,” and that they should “take the lead to reduce their emissions by a large margin.” This comes as no surprise considering many developing nations feels as though it is the responsibility of developed nations to take responsibility for the hight carbon emissions that developed nations have emitted in the past and continue to emit.

Su Wei also criticized the United States’ offer of a three percent carbon emissions reduction below the 1990 level by 2020 as being neither “remarkable or notable.” This comment by the chief Chinese environmental negotiator was not shocking either considering the European Union prosed a twenty percent decrease in emissions below the 1990 level by 2020. This number clearly trumps the United States’ seemingly trivial offer. However, Wei  considered this number as “not enough.” 

So what exactly is enough? That is yet to be determined.

As the climate conference enters its fourth day of talks it will be interesting to see if the rich-poor divide can be brought down so that serious and potentially treaty-worthy discussions can begin.

With the conference already one-fourth over, if it takes this long just to get to the point nations are at now, negotiators will need every minute of the next nine days for serious negotiation if there is any hope for a climate treaty to come out of the conference.

Rasmussen’s speech and plea can seen as a response to the harsh criticism that has come from countless environmental activists leading up to this month’s climate change conference. Many activists, including numerous political leaders, have argued that the likelihood of the U.N. Climate Change Conference resulting in a legally binding treaty would be almost impossible and that the conference would only lay the foundations for a global treaty. However, some environmental officials appear to be a bit more hopeful than previously as the environmental talks begin. 

To highlight the necessity of a legally binding climate change contract, which would heavily reduce carbon emissions, German online news publication, Deutsche Welle, reported, “ The opening ceremonies featured a short film depicting a child’s apocalyptic nightmare of climate change – a grim warning of the price of failure if world leaders don’t clinch a political deal by December 18.” With this notion of the “price of failure,” the short film tries to show how the effects of climate change have the potential to continue to increase and intensify at escalating rates if nations are not legally held accountable for the amount of carbon they emit into the atmosphere and what could result from inaction might be similar to an “apocalyptic nightmare.” 

Without question our planet’s diverse regions have already felt the effects of global temperature rise, including an increasing sea level and extreme weather conditions such as extreme precipitation and drought, which have resulted in harsh living conditions for the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people. Without clear consensus and commitment by the 192 nations present at the U.N. Climate Change Conference, as the short film warns, life our on planet could be in for huge changes.

To more fully comprehend the necessity of a legally binding climate treaty, it is important to understand how our planet has already been greatly affected by carbon emissions.  

A telling and eye-opening example is the giant East Antarctic ice sheet, which until recently, despite the earth warming overall, has been growing in size due to it being too cold, even in summer, for any significant melting to occur. The East Antarctic ice sheet, which holds about five times as much ice as West Antarctica and Greenland combined, appears to have stopped growing in size and seems to have slowly begun to melt.

An experiment in East Antarctica, Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment or GRACE, which used a pair of satellites to circle the planet in an effort to measure the gravity of various regions of the planet, began to notice lower gravity over East Antarctica in 2006, leading to current beliefs that the ice sheet is melting.

Exactly how much the ice sheet is melting per year is not fully known because Post Glacial Rebound or PGR must be taken into account. Although, the effect of PGR needs to be recognized, it is impossible to deny that the East Antarctic ice sheet is melting, which poses serious problems for our planet. Problems that have already been seen include rise in sea levels and the formation of icebergs due to the ice breaking off of Antarctica (100 icebergs have already been documented to be headed toward New Zealand), which could lead to serious shipping problems.

Time.com even notes that if the whole East Antarctic ice sheet slides into the ocean at some point in the near future, sea levels would rise by 200 feet or more- this number should give a good idea of just how influential the East Antarctic ice sheet really is.

To illustrate another interesting fact, based upon current sea level projections, by the year 2100, sea level is expected to rise by approximately 3 feet without any contribution by the East Antarctic ice sheet. The staggering projection solidifies the fact that climate change is already taking place and if legally binding agreements are not established, climate change may become our planet’s form of an apocalyptic nightmare.

To make matters seem even direr, a new paper published in the Nov. 9 issue of Nature, indicates that the ocean’s ability to absorb man-made carbon may be decreasing, which leads to even more worrying climate change implications.

The planet’s oceans, similarly to forests, serve as vital carbon sinks. In other words, the planet’s oceans continually absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and release oxygen back into the atmosphere for animal-life and humans to breath. Last year alone, oceans absorbed about 2.3 billion tons of carbon, which is roughly one-fourth of all man-made carbon. Currently, oceans are absorbing more carbon dioxide than ever before, but the percentage of carbon dioxide absorption from man-made sources appears to be steadily decreasing. As humanity continues to emit larger and larger amounts of carbon dioxide, the percentage of man-made carbon dioxide that is capable of being absorbed by our vast oceans will most likely continue to decrease.

In the past nine years, a new study by the University of East Anglia and the British Antarctic Survey estimated that carbon emissions have jumped by 29%- an amount that seems almost unreal. The Nature study further suggests that during the same nine-year period, the proportion of man-made carbon emissions absorbed by oceans has fallen by as much as a staggering 10%. With these percentages in mind, it is clear to see why many scientists believe that the earth’s oceans may have hit their so-called carbon cap.

Being aware of the melting of the East Antarctic ice sheet and the decrease in the absorption rate of man-made carbon dioxide by the earth’s oceans is highly important. These two resulting conditions of climate change have the potential to severely affect the future of our planet. However, it is even more critical to be conscious of how current climate change is already affecting the people who are most vulnerable to its negative repercussions; our world’s poor. 

The continent that has been the most affected and will most likely continue to be the most affected in the future is Africa. An article at Time.com reports, “In 2006, the United Nations said it expected Africa to be the continent most affected by climate change, not because it produces a large amount of greenhouse gases — quite the opposite — but because, as the world’s poorest and most badly governed continent, it is the least equipped to cope with change.”

With over 90 million Africans considered to be “at risk,” not including those impacted by tribal conflicts and wars- although sadly many result from climate change- it is extremely important that industrialized and developing nations reach a legally binding climate agreement in an effort to prevent harsher future conditions from becoming commonplace in some of the world’s most vulnerable regions.

Clear consequences of climate change have already been seen in Africa as torrential rains and severe drought plague the continent. Recently, severe storms in East Africa dumped as much rain in a day as would normally be seen in one month, which as a result, led to heavy floods and crop damage. Even El Niño phenomenon may partially be seen as a result of climate change due its increasing frequency in Africa. The weather condition, which used to occur once every seven years a few decades ago, is currently occuring every other year, leading to frequent extreme weather conditions.

On the other end of the weather spectrum, in many parts of Africa, sever drought has caused massive problems for the continent’s ecosystems and populations. For example, Mary Atabo, a villager in the northern Kenyan village of Kalotum, indicates, “Just three of her family’s 100 goats have survived a decade-long drought. With no animals to look after, the men have migrated to cities to look for work or sell what remaining possessions they have.” The weather has changed the entire dynamic of a once lively village into a desolate village and Mary may also have to eventually move from her home as a result of climate change.

A serious result of the extreme drought that Africa is experiencing is hunger and malnutrition. In northern Kenya near Kalotum, some 35% of the population is suffering from malnutrition-20% above the World Food Program’s crisis threshold of 15%. Although, many aid organizations, including Oxfam, emphasis the immediate humanitarian need for people affected by climate change in Africa, they also feel that more long-term agricultural aide from Western nations is crucial to the continent’s ability to prepare for future climate change.

Although, future agricultural aide is incapable of changing the climate realities that currently exist in Africa and other regions of our planet, the aide is capable of providing better long-term means for coping with the conditions that have already arisen due to climate change instead of merely providing temporary solutions to an ongoing and long-term problem.

As the United Nations Climate Change Conference continues its discussions over the next 11 days, hopefully, industrialized and even developing nations will seriously reflect upon and recognize how their past and future actions have and will affect the environmental stability of our planet. With a little bit of luck, as Denmark’s Prime Minister pleaded, ““Differences can be overcome if political will is present.” Without the ability of nations to overcome their political dispositions, the outcome of not agreeing to a legally binding climate treaty has the potential to result in the dire “apocalyptic nightmare” the child experienced in the short-film presented during the conference’s opening talks. In some ways, indications of the climate nightmare have already been seen. Now it is our leaders’ turn to make sure current climate conditions don’t turn into a full-fledged nightmare.

What makes this city of approximately 81,000 inhabitants remarkable is that through multiple initiatives it has cut its emissions by 32% since 1993 and plans to reduce its emissions by an astounding 70% by the year 2025- an ambitious goal for this little green city. 

The greatest achievement of the city is the city’s power plant, which in 1979 only used oil to generate the city’s energy. Now, 98.7% of the fuel used at the power plant is biomass mainly comprised of wood chips due to the seemingly endless forests that surround the city. 

Although the price of biomass continues to increase, for this Swedish city, the price of the biomass is still one fourth of the price of oil (before taxes), which in turn encourages the use of energy produced through biomass sources. 

The success of the city’s green initiatives has even caught the attention of other nations including the United States and South Korea. This city is a great example of how alternative sources of fuel can be used to provide for cleaner energy in this Swedish city and in other cities around the globe. 

Will world leaders at this month’s United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen look towards the future of energy sources and emissions reduction like this Swedish city? I look forward to finding out.