Al Gore's Climate Project In Africa

Mr. Gore, PLEASE meet with the climate scientists of Africa to discuss bringing your Climate Project there to bring the truth of this crisis to the people of Africa. They are now suffering the most from what we are all contributing to the CO2 levels in our atmosphere, and I see you as the one man who can reach them as they are thirsting for this information to know how to address it. Like the Peace Corps that your sister was one of the first to join, you can now start a Climate Corps of dedicated individuals willing to take this truth and message of warning and hope to those in this world who would otherwise not get it. And your participation in this process will bring the attention to this part of the world that is so forgotten and perhaps even spark the media to beginning the dialogue there that must take place to effectively address this crisis in developing areas of the world where the poor will feel the affects of our behavior more than anyone else. My dream: Mr. Gore and Wangari Maathai working together to bring balance back to Africa, because this planet is in an emergency and we need the brightest and best minds to inspire others.
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http://www.scidev.net/content/opinions/eng/media-can-help-fight-climate-change-in-africa.cfm

Media can help fight climate change in Africa

The media in Africa can help people prepare for droughts
24 January 2007
Source: SciDev.Net

The African media can play a crucial role in communicating climate information to the public, says Patrick Luganda. Coping with climate change is emerging as a major challenge for Africa. Ordinary people have begun observing the dramatic shift in the continent's climate — but they do not know what to do about it.

The media can play a crucial role in disseminating useful climate information to effectively guide public debate and understanding about the weather, climate and climate change. Extensive rain-fed agricultural systems in Africa mean seasonal forecasts and climate information are in constant demand. Millions of farmers are grappling with the changing climate around them but are starved of real, timely information on what their options are.

Still, it is not uncommon to hear them talking about ongoing changes in rainfall patterns. Indeed, as climate change takes centre stage in Africa, everybody is talking about it — in markets, gardens, homes and communities.

Better understanding through dialogue

Dialogue can make climate change seem less puzzling and, if well informed, it is a cheap and powerful development tool. Person to person communication is perhaps the most effective form of information dissemination in Africa and can influence decision-making.

Regular, accurate communication about climate change is the first step toward developing coping mechanisms in Africa. Communication has already proved a powerful tool for disaster management. In the war against HIV/AIDS, conferences, radio broadcasts, community mobilisation meetings and seminars have helped stem the disease's spread in Kenya and Uganda, and increasingly in the Southern Africa Development Community countries.

Governments need to replicate these communication strategies in the climate sector to develop successful coping strategies. Informing the public about an upcoming drought, for instance, gives people time to plan how to cope. Similarly, new information can help governments make better preparations for a potential disaster.

What the media can do

Over 70 per cent of environmental disasters in Africa — such as flooding, drought, starvation and disease — are caused, or exacerbated, by changing climatic conditions. If the general public is made more aware of this relationship, and kept informed of changing conditions, intervention strategies can be made in good time.

end of excerpt.
Patrick Luganda is chairman of the Network of Climate Journalists in the Greater Horn of Africa Secretariat based in Kampala, Uganda.


Related SciDev.Net articles:
Africa 'spearheading' solutions to climate change
US$60 million to research African climate change
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More at the link

http://water-is-life.blogspot.com/2007/01/lake-chad-is-dying.html

Also discussed in Mr. Gore's book, An Inconvenient Truth between pages 115 and 119. Where is the urgency?