2019-11-01 People South Africa

“AcrosssouthAsia43-millionpeoplehavebeen

hitinAugust 2017 byheavymonsoonrains

andintense flooding, whichinsomeplaces

istheworst ithasbeeninnearly30years,”

saida spokespersonfromOxfam.“Morethan

1200were killedinBangladesh,Indiaand

Nepal.Whilesomefloodingisexpected during

monsoonseason,thislevel isunusualand

unheard offor most ofthecommunitieshit.On

thebackof 18 monthsdroughtcausedbyEl

Niñoandhighertemperatureslinkedto

climate change, theHornofAfrica

region isnow going through a

furtherdrought, caused by a

mixture ofinfl uencesfrom

LaNiñaandtheIndianOcean

weather patt ern.Millionsof

peoplearefacingacutefoodand

water shortages.”

Asthefrighteningstati sti cs

conti nue,several celebrities

hadcomeonboardtospread

theword. AmongthoseareArnold

Schwarzenegger,JessicaAlba,Mark

Ruffalo,EmmaThompson,DonCheadle,

RobertRedford,IanSomerhalder,JaredLeto,

GiseleBündchen,PharrellWilliamsand

LeonardoDiCaprio,whoisarguably

thecelebritydoingthemostinthe

climatemovement.Leonardo

createdtheLeonardoDiCaprio

Foundati on,joinedthePeople’s

Cli t March, hasspoken at

ted Nati ons(asaUN

nger ofpeace),andhas

d tocompletelydivest

ssilfuels–just to name

vities. Heoftenuses

rable star power to urge

here to take action.

massivemovementona

eeds to happen now,” he’s

LIFESTYLE

JOIN THE FIGHT AGAINST

Climate Change

BY VA N ESSA PA PAS

FROM threatened food production to

fl ooding, the impacts of climate change are

global and catastrophic.

N

ATUREhasbecomedangerously
unbalanced.Glaciersare
shrinking,heatwavesare
increasing,weather patt erns
are shifting, thesealevel isrisingandeven
thegrowingseasonofplantsandtreesis
shortening.Climate change aff ectseach
andeveryoneofusandhasterrifying
consequencesfornotonlyourown
generati on,butgenerati onsto come.
October 24marks Internati onalDay of
Climate Action–apleato theworld to take
drasti cactionto stop climate change. There
is lotsofalarming
talkaboutourEarth
beingindire danger,
butwhat exactly is
climatechangeand
how can we tackle
it?
Climate
change occurs when
changesinthe
Earth’s
climate
system result innew weather patt ernsthat
last for at least afew decades andmaybe

habitatsarechangingfasterthantheycan

adapt. Green seaturtles,penguins,frogs,

polarbears, snow leopards, giant pandas,

monarch butterflies,mountaingorillas,

African elephants,Asianelephants

andcheetahsareamongthose

worst aff ected. Manisalso

onthelist.AccordingtoGreen

Peace, over 180-millionpeople

insub-SaharanAfricaalone

coulddieasa resultofclimate

changebytheendofthe

century. It’s predictedmass

lossoflife

willcome

asa resultof

unpredictable

rainfall patt erns,

lower crop yields,

soaringfoodpricesand

dwindlingnatural

resources–

allasa

result

ofclimate

change.

Earthis experiencinga larger

D

id

YouKn

o

w

THE average?

global sea level

is expected to

rise 17 to 58

centimetres before

the end of

this century.

PICS; ADOBE STOCK / MAGAZINE FEATURES

Recycle everythingyou can.

Power your homewithrenewableenergy.

Invest inenergy-efficient appliances.

Reduce water waste.

Buybett erbulbs (LEDlightbulbsuse

upto 80 percentlessenergythan

conventi onalincandescents).

Drive a fuel-effi cient vehicle.

HOW READERS CAN HELP

D

id

YouKn

o

w

MORE (^)?
than a million
species face potential
extinction as a result of
disappearing habitats,
changing ecosystems,
and acidifying
oceans.