Climate change is a real threat to humanity
An international team tasked with studying climate change education by the United Nations recently
has released its Sixth Examination Report, and things are not looking good.
They predict that humankind will warm the Earth's climate by 2 degrees Celsius by 2080 unless
big changes are being made right now. Happily, there is hope.
Globally, changes are taking place.
And on the southern tip of the Sahara Desert, work is now under way
the green initiative, when completed, will be the largest living megaproject
the planet.
Right: Today, we are facing the Great Green Wall.
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Let us know in the comments below, what your country is doing against climate change!
The Great Green Wall is a major environmental project underway in the Sahel region
Africa, at the foot of the sub-Saharan desert.
The Sahel is a sub-Saharan region that includes parts of ten African countries
- Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Algeria, Niger, Nigeria, Chad, Sudan, and
Eritrea.
This region is one of the poorest in the world, and in addition, they are cooperating
and the most powerful effects of climate change.
The climate in the Sahel is dry, arid, and extremely hot.
Although there is no significant rainfall anywhere in the Sahel, in the north
half (near the Sahara Desert) receives much less than in the south
part.
But the little rainfall that the region receives often comes down as severe
rain, something that was made worse by climate change.
This can lead to major floods as dry soil cannot absorb large amounts of rainwater.
Although winters are generally cold, the winds of Harmattan, across the Sahara,
often bringing in dangerous dust storms, massive sand accumulation, and dangerous shrinking
with air quality.
But this bad weather is not the only challenge facing the Sahel.
Another major problem is overeating.
Most Sahel people are semi-nomadic, meaning they move about raising livestock
and season-based farming.
While this sounds like a solid system, population growth has led to overeating, which
means adequate animal feed in the area.
Finally, perhaps the biggest problem: the desert.
Desertification is the process by which fertile land becomes a desert.
Often, it stems from such things as deforestation, drought, or poor farming practices.
This is happening in the Sahel region as we speak, and it creates all the problems we have
very bad talk.
But this has been happening for at least a hundred years.
Some statistics suggest that the Sahara has expanded at least 250km south
1900.
Half a million square miles, about the size of California.
That is a huge amount of land!
Another bad example is the story of Lake Chad.
This once proud body of water has shrunk by more than 90% since the 1960's.
This is due to climate change and the overuse of the lake by humans.
The lake crosses 4 countries - Chad, Nigeria, Niger, and Cameroon - and the impact on local people
it has been a disaster.
Global conflicts, mass migration, and dying wildlife have all been a direct result
this natural disaster.
It is clear that many of these problems are exacerbated by climate change, in particular
in the context of the report of the UN committee.
According to their data, if we do not make changes, 40% of the world's land area is at risk
desertification.
This is a shocking number!
So far, we have painted the worst picture ever.
It may seem hopeless.
Happily, there are people all over the world working to change the tide of climate change
and the desert.
Some of these people are trying to build the largest living structure in the world,
3 times the size of the Great Barrier Reef: The Great Green Wall of Africa.
The Great Green Wall is a transformation project aimed at mitigating the effects of climate change
in Africa.
It will cover the Sahel region, which we told you about throughout this video.
This wall is intended to have about 100 million trees and extend over 8,000km.
all over Africa.
Currently, this work is 15% complete, with about 17 million
trees planted as part of the Great Green Wall.
Of course, something like this is not cheap.
Preliminary estimates cover the cost of completing the Great Green Wall Megaproject in Africa
with a maximum value of $ 8 billion.
However, as we will explain in a moment, the project is facing serious and real problems
the cost will probably be much higher.
But first let's look at why the wall was originally built.
First and foremost, reducing soil erosion and thus stopping the Sahara's.
forward.
The forest of this scale can serve as a great windbreak.
Second, it will significantly reduce carbon emissions, combating climate change
every day.
In the end, more workers are needed to plant all these trees!
Some estimates suggest that this work could create hundreds of thousands of jobs for the people
the whole of Africa.
The idea for the project was first developed by British explorer Richard St. Barbe Baker
in the 1950's.
In 2002, it was immediately considered and adopted by the Sahel-Saharan Community
how to curb the rapid growth of the Sahara desert.
In 2007, it was re-adopted by the African Union.
In all, more than 20 African countries have participated in this work.
Additionally, there are a number of corporate and international partners who have started out as such
log in to help.
Sadly, the Great Green Wall faces many roadblocks.
The project is scheduled to end by 2030, but looks set to expand
as that is absurd.
Starting, it is right behind the schedule..According to its website, the project is 15% complete.
That is 14 years in the plan as there are only 9 left before its first 2030 deadline.
There are not enough trees planted at this time, and the soil has not yet returned
from the Sahara.
The biggest problems are the lack of good governance and inadequate funding.
The promised $ 14 billion grant has given the Great Green Wall much-needed funding
March 2021, but that too may not be enough.
Some estimate that the project may require an additional $ 11 billion to own any firearm
it is being eliminated, and it may be difficult to convince African governments that it is right
such a huge investment.
But unfortunately, there is an even worse problem.
Many of the trees that have been planted are already dying because of the lack of ongoing care.
This has caused many to question whether this work was truly successful in the first place.
Interestingly, Africa is not the only place that builds the Green Wall.
There is a similar project for jobs far from only one continent!
And this is the best element.
In India, a major project is currently underway: The Great Green Wall of Aravalli.
It was built in Aravalli, a mountain range in the northwestern part of India.
This region has a subtropical humidity, which means it has a very hot and relatively summers
cool winter.
Like the Sahel, the area is dry and receives very little rainfall.
The Indian Green Wall will be 1,600km long and 5km wide.
It is estimated that about 1.35 billion trees will be used to create it, a staggering amount.
The project started in 2019, and seems to be a good start.
Its scheduled end date is 2029, but we will see if they can achieve that goal.
While the project shares many similarities with the Great Green Wall of Africa, there
there is a big difference.
While the Great Green Wall of Africa is specially designed to stop the spread of the Sahara once
to combat climate change, India has some very different goals.
The Aravalli Wall is designed primarily to do two things.
First, they hope to reclaim land cut across all the Aravalli Mountains.
Second, they set up a wall to act as a barrier to a large amount of dust
storms from deserts in western India and Pakistan.