Malawian farmer visits the US to press for action on climate change - KALW
Malawian farmer visits the US to press for action on climate change | KALW
Malawian farmer visits the US to press for action on climate change
On this edition of Your Call's One Planet Series, activist and author Raj Patel discusses The Ants & the Grasshopper, a documentary that weaves together the most urgent themes of our times: the climate crisis, gender and racial inequality, the gaps between the rich and the poor, and communities on the frontlines implementing solutions.
The film follows Malawian farmer and activist Anita Chitaya who has seen the most devastating impacts of the climate crisis on her one acre farm and her village.
Chitaya and her mentor, Esther Lupafya, embark on a journey through the US in an effort to convince Americans that climate change is real and question why the US isn’t doing more to avert a climate catastrophe.
Guest:
Raj Patel, co-director of The Ants & the Grasshopper, Research Professor in the Lyndon B Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas, author and co-author of Stuffed and Starved, The Value of Nothing, and Inflamed: Deep Medicine and the Anatomy of Injustice
Web Resources:
The Guardian: A Malawian farmer visiting the US wants to know: ‘Why not do more on the climate crisis?’
Related Knowledge Center: Climate economics
Climate change is now a driver of the world’s economy. The impact is profound:
- Catastrophic weather events — hurricanes, floods, droughts, high temperatures — are more frequent and more extreme. The cost can be measured in both the initial damage caused and the longer-term impact on the economy.
- Vulnerable communities are increasing climate-related investments, hardening infrastructure and taking other protective measures.
- Investment in carbon capture and storage technologies is increasingly rapidly.
- Governments are making investments and crafting regulations to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
On top of all of this is the cost of uncertainty. As the Fourth National Climate Assessment, released in 2018 by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, says, “The assumption that current and future climate conditions will resemble the recent past is no longer valid.”