Protecting the planet against climate change

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Protecting the planet against climate change : projects around the world

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Canada: Cooling centres and travel tickets (Disaster control)

Cities become very hot in summer. Toronto has weather warnings to protect old, very young, ill and homeless people. There is public information and advice, free bottled water and travel tickets to get people to cooling centres.

United States: White New York ( Town planning)

To make New York cooler in summer, they ask people to paint roofs white. They are moving power generators to high land because they think low land will flood. They are not planning green areas yet.

Haiti: Insurance cover (Insurance)

The biggest microfinance company in Haiti, Fonkoze, has offered disaster insurance to 55,000 people who have small bank loans. Many people, especially women with small businesses, cannot usually get insurance, but with donations, they now can. This insurance protects their home and business, which is getting more important as we have more disasters: floods, hurricanes and earthquakes. After a disaster, they get $125, their loan is cancelled, and they can get a new loan when they are ready.

Britain: Making London Green (Town planning / water management)

The Mayor is planning to make London green, working with SCORCHIO (Sustainable Cities:Options for Responding to Climate cHange) – he is planning 100,000 m2 of green roofs and a 10% increase in trees and grass by 2050. The Thames Barrier, which cost over $1 billion, will probably protect London from floods until 2070 or longer.

Uganda: SMS weather warnings (Disasters)

About 5,000 fisher people die each year from very bad weather on Lake Victoria. They are now sending weather warnings by text so they will know when it’s a bad idea to go fishing.

Peru: Painting mountains (Water management)

The inventor Eduardo Gold is trying to bring back glaciers to the Andes in Peru. His team are painting the tops of 3 mountains white this year. This will reflect the rays of the sun back into space to make the temperature lower. The World Bank thinks this is such a good idea that they gave him $200,000 to do this.

The Netherlands: Dykes, dams and floating houses (Water management / town planning)

Holland has a lot of dykes and dams, but needs more to defend the country from floods and rising sea-level. The government plan to make the flood area bigger, to make more space for the rivers. They are also making houses that can rise when the water rises – “amphibian houses” – and dykes that sense and warn of flood danger. They expect to spend over $2 billion every year by 2050 on changes.

Dubai: Air conditioned bus stops (Town planning)

There are now 900 air-conditioned bus stops. They are moving away from traditional Persian buildings and making tall, glass buildings, which are not very good in temperatures of 50 degrees C. The tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa, uses 150 megawatts, which is the same as 1/10 of the power produced by a nuclear reactor. Also, they have an indoor ski slope. Is it time for them to save energy?

Vietnam: Dengue fever (Health)

Dengue fever is a very dangerous disease, like malaria, and it can spread easily. In Vietnam, they nearly stopped dengue completely with a biological solution: a very very small mosquito egg, Mesocyclops, which they put into water containers.

Kenya: Protecting meat and farmers (Life and work)

Kenya now has a drought (no water) every year – they used to have one every 10 years. The droughts kill all the animals and cause famine (no food). There is a new Meat Safety Net Programme, which pays the farmer a good price for weak cows or goats. They kill the weak animals and give the farmers the meat and skin to sell. The farmers use this money to buy more animals, food, or pay debts.

Zambia: Farming to protect the land (Forests and farming)

If farmers protect the land by using a new method (which keeps water in the soil, improves the earth, stops erosion and makes it easier to grow in a drought) they can produce 10 x more food. If global warming continues, the Victoria Falls, the 7th wonder of the world, will have no water in 50 years. Sadly, there is no possibility of adaptation here.

Australia: Closing the Great Barrier Reef (Biodiversity) The Great Barrier Reef management studied the area in 2004 and decided to say “No Fishing” in a very large area, to protect the coral and the biodiversity. Even this will not stop the coral from losing colour. Another idea, to shade the Barrier Reef from sunlight, was not supported.

As this article has been simplified, the words, text structure and quotes may have been changed. For the original, please see: http://www.newint.org/features/2012/04/01/climate-change-adaptation-projects-map-world-countries/