Climate Change Introduction The climate is the state of our atmosphere, or more simply the weather outside.

But dear friends, is there anything more unpredictable than the weather? Sometime rainy, sometime sunny, sometime windy sometime cloudy, it is no wonder that our climate give meteorologist such headaches. Dear friends our climate changes, continuously, each and every day. THATS A FACT! But why are we so worried about climate change? Our cause of concern, my dear friends is ANTROPOLOGICAL CLIMATE CHANGE. YES, the impact of humans on the long term changes in climate dynamics. Dear audience, scientists have been ringing alarm bells for more than a decade. They have been shouting out loud that WE ARE KILLING OUR PLANETE. But political leaders of major country simply turned a deaf ear to their plight. Were they right? Absolutely, scientists work on proof, and all evidences lead to the conclusion that our species, the human species, is polluting the atmosphere at such an extent that the climate is changing in a drastic manner. So our earth is ill, it has got parasites that are releasing toxins in its atmosphere. But what are the symptoms of such illness. To be fair with you friends, it has been obvious, summers are getting hotter, winters are getting colder, Super storms like Sandy and Katrina have devastated the coast of the US in recent years. Record breaking flood in the UK and Brazil in 2012 and 2011. Everyday in the news we can hear about the fatalities of climate change. It is evident that the climate is changing, for the worst and we are the culprit. Let us now come to the causes of climate change. The first cause is global warming. Very often, we use the terms climate change and global warming together. In FACT, global warming is one of the MAIN causes of climate change. Global Warming is the general increase in the earths temperature. The reason for this increase is pollution. Since the industrial age, we have been building, manufacturing, and producing all sorts of things, technology have never looked back since then. But dear friends all these activities did not come along out of thin air. Unfortunately, the energy used by humans to drive such impetus has been Fossil Fuel. Industries use fuels to drive the economy, that good, we use fuel to drive our cars, thats also good. But ladies and gentlemen the exhaust gas released from such extensive use of fuel is Carbon dioxide, yes the culprit of global warming. While each one of us is using fossil fuel freely, infact each one of us has a small contribution to global warming. We all have a share in the climate change, but dear friends the dividends of such share is our own destruction.

Dear Audience, it is VERY tragic to say but the truth is that, WE, human beings are MAINLY responsible for climate change. Innovation and development are key terms which drive our modern society. These terms are automatically linked to building up of cities. But it should be underlined that the cities are constructed at the expense of our forests. Yes, we clear the forests to make way for our tall buildings which represent our power and stature worldwide. Unfortunately, the impact of building cities is much bigger. The construction creates areas that are warm. The brick, the asphalt and concrete surfaces readily radiate the heat they absorb and this raises urban temperature.

Our cities cause climate change in many other ways. When we come to Port-Louis everyday dear jury, there is one thing which is extremely striking. That is pollution; air pollution. Heat is generated from a number of sources including motor vehicles. The number of vehicles on our roads is on the rise and this will continue to increase over the years. However, what is increasing at the same time, is our level of pollution. This pollution is the enemy, the destructor of our beautiful, pure environment.

Effects of Climate Change One of the ways in which climate change affects us is through seasonal changes in temperature which occur at slightly different times of the year. In many parts of the world, warm spring weather has come earlier. As a result, events that occur in spring such as flowering and migration, have also begun earlier for many species. It brings a change in their process.

Climate change and global warming my friends, are a direct threat to human beings. It leads to more extreme weather. It provokes more intense heat waves, more floods and more wide-spread droughts. I am sure, we are all disturbed by the heat in Port-Louis everyday. I am sure at some point or the other during the day, you must all be complaining about the extreme heat which is becoming unbearable. Now, think of it, this will increase more and more with time..I really wonder how we are all going to bear with that?? The frequent and intense hot days and heat waves can contribute to heat-related illnesses and directly harm human health.

Another direct impact of climate change to us, in Mauritius, is the rise in sea level. What causes the rise? It is simply the water which expands as it warms. Rising temperatures melt ice on land, which then flows into the oceans. This can lead to coastal flooding, erosion and so on. Can you imagine our island without its magnificent beaches?? The very identity of Mauritius is at stake. We could lose our beaches due to the phenomen of global warming.

Conclusion Dear friends, it is very good that we are raising awareness on this serious issue. However all these talking will be useless unless some concrete action is undertaken. While we are speaking, our cars are still polluting, the US, China and India are still the leaders in air pollution and our climate is getting more unstable. Destroying the atmosphere is not a sign of prosperity, but plain stupidity, simply because if there is no earth there is no money. Let us pledge, on the honor of humanity that we will stop the rot of climate change and protect it by taking care of it.