Climate change accompanied by extreme weather phenomena

We have experienced various extreme weather phenomena during the last weeks. During the last few years, heat waves and heavy rain have become more frequent worldwide, with less snow, more fires, more heavy rainfall and more intense storms.

In Northern regions, such as Scandinavia, changes in climate are approximately twice as strong as elsewhere in the world because of the contraction of the polar snow and ice cover, and the after effects of this in heating created by radiation.

July was exceptionally warm in Scandinavia and various temperature records were broken on several occasions. The hot weather have given rise to violent thunder squalls and thunderstorms that have caused extensive damage in different areas. According to the weather forecast we might still experience some of these phenomena during the following weeks.

The occasionally intense heat wave that affects large areas of Scandinavia and the other extreme weather phenomena happening all over the world, are a reminder of the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The demand for solutions that help reduce emissions, and thus reduce the extreme weather phenomena, is increasing.

Message through movies

There are still 9 days to the UN climate summit in Copenhagen. Those people involved in climate change work can see it by the loads of e-mails received about newly available publications, newsletters and events organized around the topic. No doubt a change is expected, but how to reach the masses?

To my mind, one of the best ways is to showcase the urgency through a well-packaged movie. Recently I have been seen three different movies that express the message clearly and certainly appeal to different audiences. Out of these, my favorite one is "The Age of stupid". This documentary reveals well, how the ongoing processes influence the lives of people around different parts of the world. It makes you think, what is the quality of life and how can we ensure that everyone has the right for the same?

A second movie is "Swimming with the Polar Bears". The movie goes deep into our feeling of responsibility and also adds personal dimension to the global warming. What is my approach in life?

A third one differs a lot from the previous two, as it is a cartoon movie done around the Baltic Sea."The Lord of the Things" combines the different well-known legends and movies in order to pass the message among the age group of 11-13 years. It makes you think, would things be better without ignorance?

I hope you will take the opportunity to watch the movies and to pass the message!

More information about the movies:
"The Age of stupid"
"Swimming with the Polar Bears"
"The Lord of the Things"

Intermediaries of Sustainability

One often wonders - how many of the things we struggle with have already been solved somewhere in the world? Through the Internet, we get a clue of the answer. Still majority of the knowledge is with the persons. And only partially answers are available through a free search.

So in order to be efficient and result full, we would need to know the right persons or the way to work in the relevant networks. This is a challenging task, as the context changes all the time. For this task intermediaries are needed.

Anyone can be a practical intermediary. The most advanced cities have dedicated a person/persons for the task. They may be called as Co-ordinators of Sustainability or Climate Change experts. These are the key persons to advance the work towards implementing solutions. Does your city have one already?