A need for clear, scientific language

For so long, scientific data has been taken for granted, especially by politicians and policymakers, who are the driving force of decision making in the country. Climate change is one of the areas that are misunderstood. I think that the problem is a lack of effective communication, in the sense that scientists fail to use simple language when they present their findings to the public. Globally, it is true and shocking that the United State’s Trump administration pulled out of the Paris Climate Agreement and continued to use all kinds of energy sources in the name of industrialisation and nation building.One would therefore wonder why a nation as civilised as the United States could afford to be so uninformed about climate change. This shows that the problem may not be education, lack of research or technologies, but rather the art of communication.The dramatic changes in the weather pattern can show the effect of climate change in Namibia.On 27 June, the media shared photos showing the destruction of homes and businesses brought on by excessive wind and sand to parts of Swakopmund and Walvis Bay. What went wrong? Is the world ending? These were some of the questions raised. The faith-based community have used their understanding of God’s work to explain climate change. Scientific opinion helps to make people understand the differences between facts and mere opinions. How did we get here? What can we do about it?The dataThe Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2013) indicates that the sun emits 340 watts per square meter of solar radiation of which 60% (185 watts/m2) reaches the earth, and about 100 watts/m2 is reflected by the earth&#039;s surface and atmosphere. In the 240 watts per square meter that is now in the atmosphere, one third of these amounts are trapped and absorbed by greenhouse gases, contributing to variations in global temperatures. Professor Katherine Hayhoe, a climatologist, explains that about 70% of the solar radiation is absorbed by the oceans, and this influences the general circulation of the earth systems. Due to the position in the southern hemisphere, and the angle to the earth&#039;s orbit, Namibia experiences the effects of permanent southern oscillation currents of the Benguela and Agulhas currents generated by the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean, respectively. The Benguela currents bring cold air, and the Agulhas current brings warm air. The east winds, as experienced in Walvis Bay and Swakopmund, are likely to have travelled or originated from the Indian ocean.“My friend woke up with a mouth full of sand”, is an interesting commentary that trended on social media after the Swakopmund weather incident. The first thing that comes to mind upon hearing this is climate change. This is very unusual. It is concerning how climate change affects our daily livelihood, societies, economies and political systems.However, we are doing this to ourselves because our actions are responsible for climate change. This is explained by the concept of a carbon footprint, which means that through national and collective efforts we can cut the carbon footprint.One may wonder how, as individuals, one contributes to climate change? The answer is that greenhouse gases are released from our daily activities such as the burning of fossil fuels, disposing of waste, using motor vehicles, owning cattle, since ruminant animals release methane during excretion, and the constant clearing of land which leads to a reduction of trees (fewer trees are then available to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere).These activities and many more contribute to drastic shifts in our climate.It is true, that we need to make money and thus should do business, and farming to curb food security, but we should also bear in mind that all of these things come at a cost. We may create problems we cannot fix, but we can indeed reduce our carbon footprint, and this can be best achieved by emphasising it in all legislation and making an effort on climate actions at both community and national levels. Namibia, being one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change in the world, should advocate for the reduction of carbon dioxide and strategic sustainable ways to do this.What can we do?Namibia is blessed with forests, particularly in the north-eastern parts, and this places the country in a good position to act as a carbon sink. If we strive to keep the status quo, or even improve it by planting more trees, we will show a good example to the world.However, we face a challenge of uncontrolled timber harvesting, and the breakout of wildfires. Also considering the recent exploration of oil in the Okavango Delta, all these collectively affect the ecosystem’s health and threaten biodiversity and life in general.Climatologists have tried over the years to be critical and transparent. However, the faith should acknowledge climate change and deliberate on how we can overcome it as a collective on God’s will. We can therefore act accordingly as citizens to respond in managing the emissions of greenhouse gases. Our little efforts matter the most.Institutions such as the Mauna Lao observatory in Hawaii and Namibia’s own Gobabeb Research Institute in the Namib Naukluft National Park, continue to monitor and assess climate change effects. With data at our disposal, we can make informed decisions.So, let’s start with saving water by closing all the taps, have fewer showers, and planting crops that are adaptable to Namibia’s dry climate.Of course, we should look for solutions that will not create a social outcry. We should ask and remind ourselves why things are not as they used to be. We strongly need to change our habits to save our economy and work on the concept of total accounting for imports and products that we can produce locally. We should acknowledge that business cannot continue as usual.Namibia is a party to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the IPCC.The least we can do, as a nation, is to mitigate, build a green economy, and value the scarce water in our dry country.Jasper Domigos Kassoma holds a BSc in Physics from NUST. He is a candidate for the Climate Action for Millennials Programme (CAMP) offered by Gobabeb Namib Research Institute. Contact jasperkassoma@gmail.com

A need for clear, scientific language

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-02

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A need for clear, scientific language

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-02

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