HOTTING-UP
The strange thing with global warming is that, even though the responsibility of humans is now proven by the international scientific community (the IPCC- Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is upfront about it), there are still some people in denial. The French ex-Secretary of Education, Claude Allegre, is at the head of this party in Europe. As a surfer, hence fascinated by waves, I was especially amazed/astonished when, asked about his denial of global warming, he said: “why worry about a rise in water level of one metre on a global scale, when waves 10 metres high unfold every year…” Fabulous, isn’t it? And to say he was responsible for the country’s education …
A rise in sea level of 1 metre on a global scale would lead to the exodus of over one million people. Tarawa, the capital of Kiribati is actually already living in the future as its inhabitant’s flight has already started. The sea level’s rising so fast that residents are building walls to protect their homes from the ocean. They cannot go very far in any case as there’s no way to live further than 1km away from the sea here. In 2007 the President of Kiribati (Anote Tong) launched a call for help that turned fiction into reality. He asked the international community to find a host country in view of the forced migration of his fellow citizens, thus making them the first climatic refugees in history. In an effort to make himself heard, he ask rich countries to face their responsibilities, reminding them that, backed up by scientific proof, the rise of sea level is due to greenhouse gas emissions. A form of pollution unknown to his country, which is devoid of any industry.