My calling joins us from kenya hi sharon. Well hello america and hello to everybody today we are going to be focusing on extreme weather really every continent is affected in some way by powerful storms floods or drought this is largely the result of Climate Change which is at least in part due to human activity but that is not all that we have for you today also coming up. We show you how the people of cape town the last one to see its been a long time. And five years after. How much has changed. And zain you know to be forced to see how its being produced sustainable you in seattle you know. When you think of extreme weather in africa right now its hard to ignore the ongoing drought in south Africa Cape Town in particular has been struggling with severe water shortages the dreaded daisy rule when the city is a reserve was one predicted to run dry has been deferred for the moment but the crisis is far from over everybody is having to save water from schools to private households and hotels lets begin by looking at what people are doing to got down on their what consumption. Cape town south africa famous for Table Mountain and its beautiful landscape the city has been suffering for over three years from one of the ones most dramatic crises. The d. Z. Rule the day to in cape towns time expected two hundred has now been pushed back to twenty nineteen but sieving water remains crucial its become part of everyday life. In terms of how we use the world. In a cafe weve made a mess of a fit in trying to use the littlest possible say washing up things are really really we dont refill them often we use it consciously and mindfully according to the wild weight fund for two thirds of the wild population may face water shortages within the next year and due to Global Warming the city of captain has imposed a limit of fifty liters of water passed on monday and the impact on Small Businesses that rely on what aleck laundries is particularly sivia the shortages make it difficult to plan ahead. The bad part of it if i might just need to cut stock i need to think about that very i want to create more work for people but if that happens its going to be out of my hands and control because of this is one of great is the way to the first offering but the drunk is also unleashing Creative Potential opening up opportunities for green businesses like. Eco friendly car wash instead of using water he employs a bio degradable chemical to remove that in his opinion most South Africans have to find innovative ways to manage the crisis. With. A dangerous credit interesting thing for me i think it. Socalled drought is something that can be avoided and i dont think its a crisis i think its just a panic that is uncalled for you know because if we sit and really think about it is we really running out of water not really we just panicking and everyone is going to buy water is it. Something the world is going to and you know and yet these are the should we just need to plan accordingly. And residents and businesses are trying to save water and the cities such as for new waters assist. Hoping to top. A vast and natural reason why is deep underground. South africa water crisis quite unusual has recently discovered and. They dry the waters close experts believe that this could provide a one fifty million liters or a fifth of cape towns Drinking Water so theres huge access that often or any of the much even land and extracting water from the well not course subroutines through. The city and in fact the National Park went off water sanitation is at this very moment really into that. About just moved. Us just from that area to supplement our supplies this big daisy row has left twenty ns hoovering somewhere between panic and resilience people have money to cut collective consumption by more than half hopefully inspiring other cities around the wild which are facing dry and with that. Lets head to europe now so far the facts of Climate Change have been less severe than but extreme weather is nonetheless on the right now you have an example from germany thats right sharp germany has seen several major floods in recent years went to a solvent town of dagon doff where floods destroyed many houses five years ago wanted to know what the people there have learnt from that experience and what they would do she did repeat itself. Four walls and a roof but this is not just any house the teacher trusts he built his new home to replace the one he lost when a severe flood submerged a small daken doff district in southern germany he wrote about his experiences as part of this photo book five years on it still brings back memories of very well. For the first three weeks we couldnt get inside that i was its done underwater. Control is three meters deep and took three weeks to reseed. Hes learned from the experience his new home is built to specifications designed to withstand another flood. We only really have the garage eternity room install room now. So the living rooms are on the first floor because of a new rule set by the city of. The hundred year flood of two thousand and thirteen devastated deck and off houses of residents like mr trask were almost completely covered by water and the protective dikes from pumps overwhelmed. Today the region around the danube is peaceful. At almost two thousand eight hundred kilometers the danube is europes second longest river it passes through ten countries. In check and off life has returned to normal but its taken time across the river more than two hundred houses had to be rebuilt more than six hundred refurbished. A memorial marks where the dike protecting the district broke. It reminds me. Of his responsibility to the residents whose homes were destroyed. The dike along this stretch it was rebuilt immediately after the flood. But because its too low to withstand severe flooding plans were also put in place for a new dark about a kilometer away. I reckon. But the new dike comes too late for people like. A dispute over insurance means that hes only now able to demolish his destroyed building and it will take time to rebuild his business. We lost everything we had. There wasnt even. It was all destroyed all our data all the records we collected since the company was founded in one thousand nine hundred seventy. Six. Thats round four meters the old dike was not high enough to hold back the water in two thousand and thirteen. Wasnt. Common. Everyday lives regularly not so worried theyll be a flood that so big that the new dike could withstand it by here. First or second only happen in the event there was really extreme flooding on sixty three men. Which is of course something we cant totally rule out. The impact of Climate Change concerns authorities so its something they are already taking into consideration Michelle Cooper go believes the water pumps and flood plains along with the new dike will provide sufficient protection against future floods. He. Was standing here at the foot of the new dike so its about a metre higher than the old dike. If its also more robust to withstand severe flooding and its even been raised a bit as well to allow for future Climate Change. To to trust like others decided to stay despite the threat but he knows the two thousand and thirteen flood was not a one off just two years ago water around half a metre high flows through the streets of a neighboring town. For him and his neighbors at the Community Hall extreme weather is an increasing concern they know they will never again feel completely secure. Climate change is doing natures timing out of sync in africa too thats quite a headache for the farmers who are trying to grow crops a team of scientists helping the farmers in. Their colleagues and booking up scene store a system called the distribution of rainfall across the country its based on the communication a mobile Communication System and could for example help the small scale farmers and the rule household enough to make the most of the seasonal rainfall and. Also help to africa and i will go to all system to be less one of extreme weather situation. The wells are almost empty. The land is parched for months farmers have been hoping for rain. Temperatures are currently soaring and booking a fast so often exceeding forty degrees its sweltering in the capital what they do go. Weather patterns are changing and Scientific Data on them are scarce so a team of scientists from germany and west africa are researching how much rainfall there is and when it occurs new state of the art software is designed to help the measure precipitation and supply them with information fast formally you could only retrieve the information even months delay and we walk on the technique good to be here for the information was some minute still only in this case a lot of a bit unities in Decision Making from urban flooding from now casting of flooding to Decision Making in agriculture with little. Further inland the research is operator climate measuring station the agriculture Industry Needs data about rainfall so it can plan ahead from building new dams and Irrigation Systems to deciding when to plant. The data are collected here at the station. And then we send it and. The data gathered here are useful for determining precipitation. These mobile phone masts are the key to it. Rainfall reduces their signal strength. And there are thousands of them even in the middle of National Park this time. But the mobile Network Providers have to cooperate telesales is one of the main ones in book enough fossil. And his team needed data and the company has agreed to cooperate. Because. It allows us to identify a precipitation also across the country. And some regions theres very little rainfall and more and others in this information helps us shape our Agricultural Development better. Thanks to the research as farmers are now informed via radio when the rainy season will start when farmers know rain is coming they plant rice in the dry season they prefer onions. Its important to know more about the rain how much is going to fall otherwise the rain will wash away the seeds or rot the vegetables or. Understanding rainfall is crucial to farmers livelihood factoring climate variables into their farming practices helps them improve their harvests. On what africa weve already looked at various kinds of sustainable charcoal made of cotton waste for example or even dare i say human waste what do you know that. You can also make charcoal briquettes out of not shells today we find out about Womens Initiative producing wonders out of whats in our latest edition of doing your bit. Gambia goes nuts how to make charcoal from peanuts within the last decade gambia has lost almost a fifth of its forest cover and many people use firewood for cooking. In serach under the gambia Womens Initiative is making eco friendly charcoal. Its a gamble as major cash crop. Turns of shells are dumped into the environment which is a perfect role material for charcoal just serviced the team separates out other rubbish like plastics. Then the shelves are charred and polarized. Because some of the starch is added to bind the material in. The charcoal is dried in the sun. One person can make several hundred briquettes a day. Cells ten briquettes for the equivalent of thirty euro cents. Its an eco friendly alternative to cutting down trees and shrubs for firewood. Like them. If you also do new tell us about. Visit our website or send us a tweet. Cash to be. Worse. One of the most common ingredients in food in cosmetics is palm oil thats because its cheaper than all the oil but did you realize oh that almost. All pockets sold in supermarkets contain the stuff i did not know tab i can tell you pump Oil Production in general is bad for the environment lads west of tropical forests often cleared to make way for vast monoculture plantations and people are driven from their land by Big Oil Companies but in sierra leone we came across a project that is producing palm oil in a way that benefits both local people and the environment. To get to the villages around san milan you have to pass a checkpoint this land belongs to the sox in the Agricultural Company here where the local people used to farm sucks in his growing oil palms its a massive monoculture that requires large amounts of chemicals. In the middle of it lives farmers see my matches he says family members and local chiefs forced him to lease his fields to sucked in for decades hoping to profit from the deal by receiving part of the payment. But for seem its been a disaster for a minute do so depend on this plantation on this land we have over fifty in this village. Hes got the money that he gave his current and Living Conditions his own so i get in difficult for some environmental activists call what happened here a land grab. One hundred twenty kilometers away the farmer so he says say has not released his land he grows palm fruit himself along with other crops the oil palms bear fruit for twenty five years but since they can only be harvested three or four years after planting its a long term investment. Yes gimmicky i decided to go into Oil Production i am lazy but this will be my pension and you see we can harvest it until i die at that so make up and. His family is large and they can harvest the fruit all year round and the parts of the plants that cant be used are made into natural fertilizer. These oil palms are organically grown out of necessity. That to be back at it i dont use chemicals and besides i dont even have money to buy any i mean much so we rely purely on our own traditional methods. Should a story says say has a visitor its mohamed come are a from the dutch Palm Oil CompanyNatural Habitats. Produces its own organic palm oil fruits but also buys from the local farmers. How long does it take you to grow plant to join in and start the process and so we decided to streets would be from us who already have been to show ends and in our system develop the asking this ultimately. The Companies Oil mill is close by oil palms are high yield giving four times as much oil as some flowers perfect or. That makes it cheap and widely consumed almost every other product in supermarkets from cookies to face creams contains palm oil most of the royal press here is exported but the amount is just a fraction of that produced by Large Companies can the organic palm oil compete with can definitely people even when we have different form of for auction we are very sure not and being organic if you are a premium and the market. One thousand four hundred farmers like sources say are part of Natural Habitats network of Certified Organic growers their number is set to rise as world demand for palm Oil Continues to climb. The Central African republic has a population of just five Million People but a total area almost twice the size of germany what should make it and i do you know place for why i do most with why i report the travel from. The north of the country to the. Special reserve in the south there he met activists who are doing all they can to keep native wildlife from being wiped out. Its relatively tranquil in the rain forest in the south of the Central African republic that hasnt always been the case but the war has shifted to other regions now guerrilla expert terence food was one of the few people who remained in after the area was overrun in twenty thirteen. And you have this quote here diluted to put excite. There with which i came from he done and succeeded to get here went by the way for escaping and kitted out of the highway and unless it is all just faceless just because of. The unique wildlife and is still thriving thanks in part to generous Financial Support particularly from germany. Some two thousand gorillas still live in the park for the most part undisturbed. Is a source of income for the population. We have a staff of sixty people. In this more traditional days and sixty people stop an easy. Mistake i think in twenty different. So we think that the people are the benefits. More than twelve hundred Wild Elephants also in that enzyme goes on. In the middle of the rain forest is a clearing the animals are attracted to the mineral salts in the soil. For the past year luis out on has been working here for the World Wildlife fund for nature hes had many years of experience dealing with Nature Conservation in crisis regions. Elephants are a favorite target for poachers. Has spent thirty seven years working as a conservationist in africa and during that time hes observed how elephants are gradually disappearing from the continent. Lets tell a fun duffy is here we we have we out there is of the. Phoenix with all of the we know that and if you do. I want to live on so we have to be really different from that. Even though rangers patrol the work they dont have enough weapons and ammunitions to ward off the professional poachers the situation is similar in the rest of africa. There are. A lot of people and these deprived induct people buying the things thats only there by the local people and i did for that. During previous posts in chad and northern congo. Nearly forty employees in the battle against poachers. Always deploring with guns and then when you see everybody say north how do you want. To protect their lives i dont want guns to protect the elephant i want guns the people that dont but they find that these difficu