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Climate change news from the ground, in a warming world |
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When 12-year-old Alamin and his family lost their home and farmland to river erosion last year, they fled to a slum close to Bangladesh's capital Dhaka. Now the former student works in a shipbreaking crew to support his mother and younger siblings, he told our correspondent Mosabber Hossain.
Like millions of children displaced by climate change impacts in Bangladesh, he's unlikely to ever return to school - a reality the International Labour Organization warns could lead to new inter-generational cycles of poverty and child labour.
About 1.7 million children already work as labourers in Bangladesh, one in four of them 11 years or younger. Girls, often working as domestic help, rarely even show up in the statistics, UNICEF says.
As the fossil fuel emissions that drive climate change continue to rise, despite legions of net-zero promises, efforts to hold global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius are lagging.
Scientists say there is now a 50% chance the key barrier will be passed at least temporarily within five years - with worrying implications for Bangladesh's children and families everywhere.
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Alamin, 12, whose family lost their home to climate change-driven erosion, works as part of a shipbreaking crew in Keraniganj, close to Dhaka, Bangladesh, March 22, 2022. Thomson Reuters Foundation/Mosabber Hossain |
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Efforts to build resilience early to strengthening climate impacts, from wildfires to droughts, floods and storms, are crucial - and they are happening, though funding remains limited.
In Zimbabwe, the government has set new construction standards for rural homes to help them better stand up to extreme weather. It discourages building in wetlands and using traditional earthen bricks, which are often baked using firewood, leading to worsening deforestation.
Florence Panda, who lost her previous earth-block home to Cyclone Idai in 2019, now has a new one made of cement bricks, after spending too long living in a tent.
She feels safer - but paying $500 for building materials that were once free isn't something everyone will be able to afford, she warned our correspondent Tonderayi Mukeredzi.
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Teresiah Mugo at her farm in Murang'a County, where a new water metering system means she no longer has to compete with farmers upstream for water, in Kiarutara, Kenya, March 14, 2022. Thomson Reuters Foundation/Caroline Wambui |
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In Kenya, adapting to drought turns out to be as simple as adding water meters to irrigation systems.
Since farmers in Murang'a County moved from paying a flat fee for water access to being charged according to their use, upstream growers have turned off taps that once ran 24 hours - and often-parched downstream users are now getting regular supplies.
Since making the change, the irrigation project has been able to double its users, members told correspondent Caroline Wambui.
But in many parts of the world, the ability to grow, access and afford food is becoming more precarious as climate change and conflicts like the Russia-Ukraine war disrupt global food systems. Are high food prices here to stay? We take a look.
And don't miss the latest in our Earth Focus film series, on a southern California community surrounded by delivery-service warehouses that is fighting for cleaner air.
See you next week!
Laurie
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