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Climate change inescapable fact Story by NGOVI KITAU Publication Date: 6/9/2008 CLIMATE CHANGE LEADING to global warming is the biggest environmental challenge facing the world. The World Environment Day was marked last week, and it is necessary to examine the state of our environment. Our moderate weather and tropical climate encourage a range of outdoor activities. We have been fortunate to live in a country that has marvellous mountains to climb, fabulous beaches to bask in, magnificent vegetation and animals in our famous national parks. We have great lakes and rivers to explore, fertile highlands to grow cash crops and rear exotic dairy animals in, extraordinary lowlands to grow food crops in, the magnificent Rift Valley, beautiful plateaus and hills covered by dense tropical forests and giant trees, and great savannas for grazing our animals in. And what do we observe today? Long and recurrent droughts, flooding whenever it rains, melting of ice on Mt Kenya, destruction of the Mau and other forests, continuing and alarming soil erosion, silting of dams, degradation of the eco-system, accelerated desert march, loss of biodiversity, and persistent human conflict over scarce resources.

The IPCC was established to provide the decision-makers and others interested in climate change with an objective source of information about climate change. The IPCC does not conduct any research nor does it monitor climate related data or parameters. Its role is to assess on a comprehensive, objective, open and transparent basis the latest scientific, technical and socio-economic literature produced worldwide relevant to the understanding of the risk of human-induced climate change, its observed and projected impacts and options for adaptation and mitigation. IPCC reports should be neutral with respect to policy, although they need to deal objectively with policy relevant scientific, technical and socio economic factors. They should be of high scientific and technical standards, and aim to reflect a range of views, expertise and wide geographical coverage.

In Alaska, climate change is creating an unforeseen humanitarian crisis. Arctic sea ice - which had protected communities from coastal erosion and flooding - is rapidly disappearing and signalling a radical transformation of this northern ecosystem. Scientific observations during the summer of 2007 documented a new record low. In 2006, the US government completed a $2.5m (£1.7m) seawall to protect the native village of Kivalina, located on an island in the Chukchi Sea. But on the day of the dedication ceremony, a storm surge partly destroyed the newly constructed sea barrier. One year later, the community was evacuated to protect inhabitants from a severe storm.

Every week to 10 days, by boat in summer and over the ice in winter, he crossed the lake to a spot about a mile and a half from Bolshie Koty, a small village in the piney woods on Baikal's northwest shore. There, Dr. Kozhov, a professor at Irkutsk State University, would record water temperature and clarity and track the plant and animal plankton species as deep as 2,400 feet.