Warming a worry for all

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 10/05/2012 (5087 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Bartley Kives is to be congratulated for his articles on hunger in Niger. The two areas in the world where global warming is happening most rapidly are in the Sahel, where Niger is located, and in Canada’s Arctic.

In both places, the temperature is rising more rapidly than on the rest of our planet. Rising temperatures and increased drought are particularly harmful in Niger, where crops may fail if not enough rain falls. In Canada, we are monitoring the rapid ice melt, but hunger is not plaguing most of us yet.

Perhaps some think climate changes will not harm people on Earth. Yet cyclones are increasing and rainfall at various spots is sometimes increasing and often decreasing.

It may be troubling for people in Niger and in the Arctic to realize they may not have contributed much to the famine that plagues the African region or to the melting that is happening in Northern Canada.

Yet fossil-fuel use in other areas of the world proceeds, often without concern for the people who suffer from a shortage of rain. In fact, some people complain when others have to assist in reducing such famine.

We must see the world holistically to know that richer areas may be causing the plagues in other areas. Hopefully, Kives will awaken some of us to the harm such energy use brings to others in the world.

 

BARRY HAMMOND

Winnipeg