In cooperation with the British Council GLOBAL IDEAS will periodically present you with portraits and updates of the 'International Climate Champions'. The Climate Champion programme recognizes young people from all over the world, who are doing an outstanding job in campaigning and working for the protection of our climate.

Today, please meet Anoka Abeyrathne, a Climate Champion from Sri Lanka:

Anoka has been given the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation Youth Award 2010. At the age of 14 she started working on the protection of the wetlands of Sri Lanka to combat Climate Change. Until today Anoka has helped replant more than 12,000 Mangroves in Sri Lanka. She is an activist in the South Asian Youth Climate Action Network. In 2010 she became a British Council International Climate Champion and was the Sri Lankan delegate to the Youth Forum on Climate Finance 2010 in Shanghai.

When you turn on your radio most likely you will hear music. A lot of the songs you hear surely are insignificant. Most of them are about the usual issues like love & hate and who is the biggest pimp or has the lowest lowrider… But sometimes you will stumble upon a song that contains more than just blah blah. We are talking about popular music refering to climate change and how humans have an impact on the environment. Here's a short list that definitely needs to be extended. So if you know a song that matches this list, add a comment and let everyone know!

The first song we would like to present is from some time in the 80s by a band called Tower of Power. The idea is pretty easy to get: Stop driving that much, oil won't be available forever: "There's only so much oil in the ground / Sooner or later there won't be much around / Tell that to your kids while you're driving downtown / That there's only so much oil in the ground"

Punkrock of course is the class A music for controversial issues and Bad Religion is the band if we are talking about fairness, human rights and, obviously, climate change.

Cake on the other hand are more plain and simple:

"Car after bus after car after truck / After this my lungs will be so f*** up…"

Depeche Mode, the synthi-gods of ancient music times have written a song that is quite catchy as well. It says: "The landscape is changing, the landscape is crying / Thousand of acres of forest are dying…" Sounds pathetic in a way but who cares if the message is delivered right, right?

And last but not least the old but still heavy Heavy Metal band Megadeth has a heart for biodiversity. The song "Countdown to extinction" is a call to save the animals of our planet (because they can't take revenge for themselves). We don't know if the WWF would like this kind of music very much. Anyway, here's a quote from the lyrics: "Endangered species, caged in fright / Shot in cold blood, no chance to fight…" The song goes on with a martial (and metal-like) description of mankind: "You pull the hammer without a care / Squeeze the trigger that makes you Man…" Hell, yeah!

Do you know more songs like these? Do let us know! 🙂 You can add a comment right here with YouTube links to your favorite climate song or video.

It's no secret that coral reefs around the world are under threat because of climate change. Coral reefs represent some of our most important natural resources, providing livelihood, food and protection for marine biodiversity. And now environmentalists say 75% of our existing coral reefs are in the danger zone.

 

According to a report called "Reefs at Risk Revisited," overfishing, warmer waters and pollution are among the biggest culprits endangering reefs today. Also, pwards of 500 million depend on reefs for sustenance and income. And it's only going to get worse in the next 20 to 50 years.

 

So what can we do? Cutting down on water consumption and pollution will in turn slash our CO2 emissions, which is a big plus. But also support reef-friendly businesses whether you're fishing, boating or snorkeling! And raising awareness is also key. Here's one way to spread the word: send coral reef e-cards from The Nature Conservancy!

This is a post-script to the blog entries from the Philippines by our reporter Carl Gierstorfer:

On my last day before returning to Berlin, I climbed Mount Pinatubo. Or rather what's left of Mount Pinatubo. Because in June 1991 a series of volcanic eruptions blew the top 160 meters off this mountain. A cloud of volcanic ash rose some 34 kilometers into the Earth's atmosphere (here is some more information and a picture from space, taken by the orbiting Shuttle crew). The evil twist in Pinatubo's eruption was that it coincided with a typhoon sweeping over Luzon Island. The heavy rains washed out much of the ash and deposited it over a wide area. Mudslides, called Lahars, destroyed villages and left 700 people dead. Large parts of this rice granary of the Philippines were covered in sediments up to one meter high. Probably worst hit were the indigenous Aeta people who used to live on the slopes of Mt Pinatubo. Although they managed to flee before the eruption, their habitat was destroyed; they were resettled in refugee camps, where many ended up as beggars and alcoholics.

The eruption had quite a dramatic effect on the world's climate. The following winter was unusually warm in the Northern hemisphere, while the Near East saw snow and corals died of cold shock in the Red Sea. For scientists these climate anomalies were a unique chance to calibrate their models against reality.

This is a short video I shot of the Pinatubo crater lake. What once must have been the most hostile spot on this planet is today a strangely tranquil and peaceful place. But don't be mistaken: Pinatubo is just sleeping as the bubbles of sulphuric gas and spots of hot water remind us. Enjoy.

Medillin is the 2nd largest city in Colombia and, like many big urban centers, traffic and congestion–and chaos–often rules the streets. On top of that, many Colombians who live in suburbs on the steep slopes surrounding the city have long had a tough time getting to work and back every day. But local authorities have come up with an innovative and eco-friendly way to bring commuters in and out of the city: the Medillin Metrocable. Check out this report!