People Speak
![]() |
Andreas Sterl, The Netherlands Heat of the Moment Voices: Hotter Heatwaves in the Future Andreas Sterl, of the Royal Dutch Meteorological Institute, says that in some parts of the world “extreme temperatures” will go up two to three times faster than average temperatures. He says that means that places where mean temperatures are expected to rise by 3 or 4 degrees centigrade by 2100, extreme temperatures (during heatwaves) will be about 10 degrees centigrade higher than those experienced today. |
![]() |
Rumana Hussein, Bangladesh Heat of the Moment Voices: Mangroves Can’t Survive Rumana Hussein, a graduate student at the University of Chittagong in Bangladesh, studies the impact of changing climate on mangrove tree species. She says that one economically important timber species she studied will not be able to survive the higher temperatures expected in Bangladesh by 2100. |
![]() |
Saajidah Davids, South Africa Heat of the Moment Voices: Weird Weather in Cape Town Saajidah Davids is a student at the University of Cape Town in South Africa. She says the weather there has been strange lately. |
![]() |
Fundile Bala, Italy Heat of the Moment Voices: Threats to Future Generations Fundile Bala is a student at Cape Town University in South Africa. He’s worried about what climate change means for future generations. |
![]() |
Fundile Bala, Italy Heat of the Moment Voices: Aware of Carbon Footprint Fundile Bala is a student at Cape Town University in South Africa. He says he’s more aware than ever of his carbon footprint and tries to use as few resources as possible. |
![]() |
Evelyn Knipe, United Kingdom Heat of the Moment Voices: South African Weather Evelyn Knipe is a psychology student in Cape Town in South Africa. She worries about the weather in 50 years. How will changes affect her children?, she asks. |
![]() |
Aluta Mkhontwana, South Africa Heat of the Moment Voices: Go Green Aluta Mkhontwana is a law student at Cape Town University in South Africa. He wants to help to slow climate change. |
![]() |
Aluta Mkhontwana, South Africa Heat of the Moment Voices: Cities Will Be Under Water Aluta Mkhontwana is a law student at Cape Town University in South Africa. He’s worried about rising temperatures and sea levels. |
![]() |
Student in Bologna, Italy Heat of the Moment Voices: Global Cooperation Needed A student at the University of Bologna says he is worried about climate change. He says it will take global cooperation to respond to the problem, something which he fears “on our planet is not possible.” |
![]() |
Student in Bologna, Italy Heat of the Moment Voices: Saving Energy A student at the University of Bologna has some idea for saving energy to reduce the threat of global warming. |
![]() |
Rumana Hussein, Bangladesh Heat of the Moment Voices: Natural Calamities Rumana Hussein, a graduate student at Chittagong University in Bangladesh, studies the impact of changing climate on mangrove tree species. She says that Bangladesh is very prone to natural calamities, such as cyclones. Such natural disasters will get worse in the future, she believes. |
![]() |
Chris Zevenbergen, The Netherlands Heat of the Moment Voices: Floating Cities Chris Zevenbergen is an engineer at the big Dutch construction firm Dura Vermeer. He is a leading advocate in The Netherlands for the construction of floating houses, buildings and even entire cities. Such innovations could help The Netherlands and other places adapt to higher sea levels. |
![]() |
Violaine, France Heat of the Moment Voices: Change Has Become Obvious Violaine, interviewed by the Paris city hall, says that she’s heard about changes in the climate from farmers she knows in southern France, and from friends in Canada. She says she’s noticed changes herself in Paris itself. |
![]() |
Chand Sultana Khanam, Bangladesh Heat of the Moment Voices: We Can Solve This Problem Chand Sultana Khanam is a student at the University of Chittagong University in Bangladesh. She says developed countries are emitting more carbon than developing countries. But some solutions, such as planting more trees, must be done in developing countries, like Bangladesh. “If all of us work together,” she say, “we will be able to solve this problem.” |
![]() |
Chand Sultana Khanam, Bangladesh Heat of the Moment Voices: More Cyclones Chand Sultana Khanam is a student at the University of Chittaqong in Bangladesh. She says that climate change is increasing the incidence of natural calamities. Normally, she says, there used to be only one great cyclone per year. Now there are two. This causes problems with food production and it pollutes drinking water with salt. She says such changes are causing poor people to suffer. |
![]() |
Andreas Sterl, The Netherlands Heat of the Moment Voices: Heat Wave Never Seen Before Andreas Sterl, of the Royal Dutch Meteorological Institute, says that the heatwave of 2003—which killed about 40,000 people—was unusual because it was very hot, because the heat lasted a long time and because a large land area was affected. He says that were there no human-induced global warming, you would expect such an event to happen once every 30,000 years. Taking account climate change, it might occur once every 500-700 years. No such event ever occurred before in Europe. |
![]() |
Pedestrian, France Heat of the Moment Voices: Changes Occurring A pedestrian interviewed by the Paris city hall says he is concerned by changes in the climate. He’s not sure what to make of opposing views on the causes. |
![]() |
Nathalie, France Heat of the Moment Voices: Little Steps to Save Planet Nathalie, interviewed by the Paris city hall, tries to protect the planet by recycling, by using as little water as possible and by using paper bags. She wonders if these little acts help. But she says, “if everybody on earth would do that, it would have an impact.” |
![]() |
Marc Gareau, France Heat of the Moment Voices: Everybody Does Their Part Marc Gareau is director of the social service organization Petits Frères des Pauvres in Paris. One of his roles is helping elderly and other people who are at risk from suffering during high heat in Paris. He says the need for help is so great that he must rely on volunteers. Also, he says everybody must do their part to reduce their impact on the Earth, such as by driving less. |
![]() |
Luis, Italy Heat of the Moment Voices: Our Responsibility Luis, a law student at the University of Bologna, Italy, says he is really worried about weather changes. He says that the changes are not caused exclusively by humans, “but we have some responsibility so we have to do something about it.” |
![]() |
Laura, United Kingdom Heat of the Moment Voices: Climate Changes Worries Me Laura, a student from the UK, was interviewed at the University of Bologna in Italy. She says she is worried about climate change, though it hasn’t affected her personally. |
![]() |
Storekeeper, The Netherlands Heat of the Moment Voices: Safe for Ten Years This attendant, at a juggling supply store in The Hague, The Netherlands, says he’s concerned about global warming, though he says it will take a lot of time to notice significant effects. “For the coming decade I don’t see any big problems occurring.” |
![]() |
Student, Italy Heat of the Moment Voices: Young Will Change World This student, interviewed at the University of Bologna, says he has a “pessimistic vision” when it comes to climate change. But he says he is hopeful that “someday, something could change.” |
![]() |
Pedestrian, France Heat of the Moment Voices: Solar Panels This pedestrian, interviewed by the Paris city hall, says he sees changes in the climate, though he doesn’t know what is causing them. He says if he ever owns his own home, he’ll use solar panels and try to save energy in other ways. |