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NIGEL ALLAN
Climate Witness
REVEALING THE IMPACT OF GLOBAL WARMING
A rice farmer in Japan struggles against a surge of destructive Programme to reveal both the individual impact of climate
insects and increased temperatures. A mountain guide in change and the global scale of the threat. By linking directly
Nepal watches with concern as glacial lakes grow and threaten to the realities of rapid climate change on everyday people,
villages with catastrophic flooding. In the Sundarbans delta of Climate Witness highlights the urgent need for governments
India, a family home is twice destroyed by coastal erosion. On to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and provide
Kabara, a remote Fijian island, villagers find it increasingly clean energy solutions. The work of Climate Witness is
difficult to catch fish and grow food. supported by over 100 scientists who provide scientific context
The graphs of temperature rise and predictions of to each of the individual testimonies.
different climate change scenarios are now familiar thanks to Climate Witnesses are also engaged in solutions to limit
the work of Al Gore, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate the impact of climate change and seek out opportunities
Change, and others, but on the ground – this is what climate that will have a positive result for the environment and their
change looks like. There are likely millions of stories like quality of life.
these throughout Asia; all with their own personal take on In most cases, climate change is one stress amongst many.
the impact of climate change and the efforts of people to adapt However, the impact of an unstable climate has consequences
to an uncertain future. that are pervasive and complex, as these Climate Witness
WWF, the global conservation organisation, is asking stories reveal:
people to share their stories as part of its Climate Witness
WWF-Nepal
WWF-Japan
has been transformed into impact of climate change.
innumerable small lakes...
’
Ang Tshering Sherpa
This worries me...
’
Katsuo Sasaki
Japan
Katsuo Sasaki has been growing rice in Miyagi on the northern
part of mainland Honshu, Japan for over 40 years, but like
many farmers in the region, he is seeing a decline in rice
yield. Warmer temperatures and increased bug infestations
are the main culprits and both are linked to climate change.
Katsuo says, “Deadly bugs have increased recently,
especially shield bugs. These bugs cause black spots on rice,
lessening the commercial value of the crops. Ten years ago,
I rarely saw shield bugs, but they are increasingly found in
most parts of Japan’s agriculture sector.”
Miyagi is an important region for agricultural production
in Japan, particularly for its high-grade rice, but Katsuo
worries that the temperature increase will eventually make
McKay Savage
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WWF-India
badly damaged. It’s been 10 metres inland from
bleached white...
Penina Moce ’ the embankment.
Jalaluddin Saha ’
India
In 1975, schoolteacher and farmer Jalaluddin Saha built
a house on the western fringes of Mousuni Island in the
Sundarbans Delta of West Bengal, India. Then 17 years later
the earthen embankment, built to keep the sea out, gave away
and Jalaluddin and about 100 other people lost their homes
and land.
“My ten neighbours and I were protected by a seven-metre-
high earthen embankment. My house was about 10 metres
inland from the embankment. Gradually soil slipped away
from below the trees along the outer side of the embankment
and eventually the remaining trees were washed away around
1985 and the embankment started to erode.”
“Since 1985, we have raised the height of the embankment
WWF-SPO
but tidal waters keep rising. By 2005, we have raised the height
of the embankment five times to 17 metres and it collapsed
again in 2005, displacing 60 families. Either our island is
sinking or the sea is rising.”
Fiji Jalauddin grew up in the Sundarbans delta, which is
Penina Moce lives on Kambara – a remote island of Fiji. spread across India and Bangladesh. The region is home to
Penina and her family rely almost exclusively on what they the largest mangrove forest in the world. Sea-level rise in this
can grow or catch. Changes in sea temperature and rainfall region threatens millions of people. ▪
patterns have made life difficult.
Penina says, “There have been a lot of changes in the sea,
there is virtually no fish there now. Honestly, not even the
small fish can survive because the coral is so badly damaged.
It has been bleached white.”
Coral reefs are important nurseries for many fish, but as
oceans warm the heat stress damages the tiny algae, which
live inside the corals and supply them with food. Without the
algae, corals die and become bleached.
“In the past there were many people on the island. But the
seafood was plentiful and rich. But now Kambara is empty.
It is very difficult to find seafood. It is not that we have over
fished. But we have noticed big changes in the climate. The
sun is very hot and the sea waves kill the sea life we rely on.
This is what I believe has caused the shortage of seafood.”
WWF-India
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