Sonia, Emma and me are called the worlds
first climate-refugees, but we will not be the last:
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The report from the UN climate-panel leaves no room
for doubt:
THE WORLD IS EXPERIENCING A DANGEROUS CLIMATE-CHANGE,
AND IT IS CAUSED BY HUMAN ACTIVITIES!
(2007, the Fourth Assessment Report)
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The atmosphere is getting warmer because gas-emissions from human activities
prevents the heat from the sun to reflect into space - we are experiencing
a greenhouse effect.
The majority of so called greenhouse-gases are caused by burning of fossil
fuel, and the biggest troublemaker is carbondioxide, CO2.
With a temperature-rising in the atmosphere there are now occurring several
processes that disturbs the normal state of our globe:
- The ice in the Antarctica is slowly melting, and the scientists can already
measure a rise in
the sea-level.
- The temperature in the sea is slowly raising, changing the habitats of
fish and other living
beings necessary for our survival.
- The raise of the temperature in the atmosphere and sea is changing the
whole
meteorological situation for our planet - winds, rain and even
ocean-currents are already
behaving unusual, and things will change more!
This is what we will experience in the near future:
- the sea-level will raise from 25 to 90 centimeter. Low-laying
countries are threatened and
more than hundred million people will have to be moved!
- it will be a lot more extreme weather with floodings, hurricanes and
draught!
- higher temperature means spreading of tropical diseases. Malaria might increase
with up to
80 million a year!
- food-production will decrease in many areas of the world , in other increase!
- deserts will become larger, and the vegetation change in 1/3 of the worlds
forests!
- the mean-temperature on the earth will raise with between 1 to 4 degrees
Celsius the next
century!
What can we do to stop the problem?
UN's climate-panel says that we have to reduce the emission of
greenhouse-gases - fast!
A decrease in release of CO2 to the atmosphere of at least 60 percent is
necessary just to stabilize the amount of CO2 on the present level. A level
that already is causing a harmful climate-change!
Can we believe in UN's climate-panel?
The climate-panel is made up from more than 1000 of the worlds
leading scientists.
If you are sick I guess you visit one doctor, and trust in what he is saying.
1000 of the leading doctors on the earth's health are telling that the patient
is seriously sick- and it would be ridiculous and highly risky not to listen
to what they say!
Might be the earth will solve the problems itself?
Well, might be, but is it any reason that the earth in so case
will show consideration to us humans? Isn't the best way to get rid of a cancer
to cut it away?
Why don't we do anything?
It has taken some time to realize, and admit, that we have a
problem. Several international climate-conferences have taken place since the
first in London in 1990. In Rio de Janeiro in 1992 it was agreed that it was
necessary to reduce emissions of climate-gases.
Some countries set up national goals to reduce their emission of greenhouse-gases,
but so far the implementations have been very weak and no country has even discussed
to reduce their emission of CO2 with 60 percent - or more. The total level of
CO2 in the atmosphere is rapidly increasing and makes the percentage we will
have to reduce higher and higher each day!
The last international climate-conferance took place in Kyoto in December, and
on overtime an agreement was reached. It says that the industrialized countries
shall reduce their emissions of six climate-gases with a total of 5,2 percent,
compared to 1990-level, before year 2012. This is of course far from
enough!!!!!!
Why don't the politicians take this problem seriously?
The politicians are in a very tricky situation, they have too
many considerations to take.
First of all; they are humans and they want to get reelected to keep their jobs.
If they tell the inhabitants of their country that everybody will have to reduce
their standard of living then their political career might be very short!
They are in a "Catch 22"-situation.
To reduce the CO2 level in the atmosphere with more than 60 percent will beyond
doubt mean that all the inhabitants of the industrialized nations will have
to reduce their standard of living, and that the rest of the world can forget
any kind of economical development! To say it in a brutal and illustrative
way: If all the Chinese and Indians shall be allowed to have cars then the rest
of the world can throw away theirs!
It might be that some of the politicians have concluded that it is impossible
to do something, and that they might as well help the inhabitants in their country
to obtain a high standard of living - until it is all over.
What a paradox it is that we had to move
to Norway!
We had to flee from our paradise because of the climate-change with hurricanes.
The rising sea-level will make the country impossible to live in Tuvalu in 10-15
years due to the rising sea-level, - if not the inhabitants have been washed on
the sea before that!
Norway is today the worlds second largest oil-exporter - and oil is the major
contributor to the climate-change that made us the worlds first climate-refugees!
We have no option but to live with this fact, even if I am mighty ashamed of the
place where I was born!
I am even more ashamed of the fact that Norway today has left it's official goal
to reduce the emission of CO2 to 1989-level, and instead is expected to increase
its emissions with about 20 percent till year 2000!
It is also a bad sign that former Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland, who
was the leader of the World Commission on Environment and Development, totally
seems to have forgotten that she in the report "Our Common Future"
concluded that the industrialized countries have to reduce their use of energy
with 50 percent!
WHAT ABOUT THE PEOPLE OF TUVALU?
We managed to get away and our houses are standing empty. But Emma's family
is still there, our friends are still there.
We will not be surprised if we tomorrow receive a fax telling that they are
all dead. So - I have a job to do here. My homepages are a part of this job.
The Tuvaluan Government is of course aware of the problem, and they have tried
to focus the word's attention on their situation - without much luck.
It seems that Australia and New Zealand have promised to take the islanders
if they have to be evacuated, but the problem is that it might not be anybody
to evacuate after the next hurricane... Nobody will be able pick the people
of the islands if a catastrophe strikes - the nation is just too far away.
"SAVE TUVALU!" Click here to support
the people of Tuvalu!
Here is what they say:
"The greenhouse effect and sea level rise threaten the very
heart of our existence", Bikenibeau Paeniu, previous Prime Minister
of Tuvalu.
World Climate Conference, November 1990.
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The inhabitants of tiny Tuvalu threatened by rising sea-levels fear
they will have to be floated in canoes over their flooded homes before
the rest of the world wakes up to their plight.
Prime Minister Kamuta Lataasi said New Zealand Foreign Minister Don
McKinnon had written to him to say Tuvaluans would not be welcomed in New
Zealand, and Australia had informally advised him they would not change
their immigration policies to cope with Tuvalu's problems.
"-I am disappointed, but I don't think I will take no for an answer,
I will continue to press for our needs. - It seemed, he said in the telephone
interview, - that the world did not care what happened to his people.
they want to see everybody floating before they respond, he said, but they
might not even be able to do that. -We might not have enough wood here
to build paopaos (canoes)"
Fiji Times, 9/12-94. |
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USEFUL LINKS:
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Greenpeace: http:/www.greenpeace.org
Friends of the Earth: http://www.xs-4all.nl/~foeint/