16 Nov 2007- Valencia,
Spain – Real problems for real people caused
by climate change demand real solutions,
says the latest research from WWF, as it
presents a new tool for concerned citizens
to register and verify their observations
of global warming.
The WWF initiative documents the experiences
of people who are witnessing the impacts
of climate change on their local environment
and lifestyles.
"Around the world, people are witnessing
the impacts of climate change and what they
see is consistent with many of the findings
of the IPCC’s latest global climate report,"
says Hans Verolme, Director of WWF's Global
Climate Change Programme.
The testimony of these “Climate Witnesses”
is reviewed by a member of the programme’s
Science Advisory Panel to establish if the
impacts reported are consistent with known
trends, and if these stories can be placed
in the context of climate change. Over 100
leading climate scientists from around the
world have so far joined the panel.
“Climate change is still viewed by some
as an abstract and distant threat,” Verolme
adds.
“The Climate Witness Programme shows that
it’s something that’s happening now and
affecting the lives of people around the
globe.”
Eye witness accounts
According to the IPCC, there have been eight
mass bleaching events on the Great Barrier
Reef since 1979, triggered by unusually
high sea surface temperatures.
“Aside from my concern about the impacts
on the health of the reef, my thoughts turned
to the impacts that coral bleaching may
have on my business and community,” says
John Rumney, a dive business owner in Australia.
“I have lost about 10 per cent of my dive
sites in the past four years and I know
what’s happened in the Caribbean and the
Maldives. If that happens here, what will
we show the guests?”
Climate research indicates that there will
be higher temperatures and more precipitation,
particularly in winter, in northern Norway.
Icing, but also deeper snow cover, in mid-winter
will probably cause problems for such activities
as reindeer herding.
“The snow gets icy from the rain so that
the reindeer cannot get through down to
the food which they depend on to survive
in the winter,” says reindeer herder Olav
Mathis from Eira, Norway.
“I have three sons. One of them will hopefully
keep to the family tradition of reindeer
herding. But it is no longer a good life.
It is an insecure future.”
By collecting these stories WWF wants to
increase the awareness of people around
the world that changes are already happening
in many places. The global conservation
organization also wants to impress upon
decision-makers and the public the need
for urgent and serious action to stop climate
change.
Brian Thomson, Media Relations Officer
WWF International
Martin Hiller, Communications Manager
WWF Global Climate Change Programme
