EAST Africa is no stranger to crisis: who can forget the Ethiopian famine of the mid-1980s that killed about half a million people?
But the drought that struck in 2011 was different 鈥� it was caused, at least in part, , the first time a humanitarian disaster has been directly linked to global warming (see 鈥�Humanitarian disaster blamed on climate change鈥�). It won鈥檛 be the last.
If that wasn鈥檛 bad enough, our climate now seems to have passed one of the abrupt changes known as tipping points. This is another first (see 鈥�Arctic thaw may be first in cascade of tipping points鈥�).
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These stories are a depressing reminder of how we are damaging the planet. But they also remind us that change is possible. The famine of the mid-1980s was a tipping point of sorts too, because it thrust hunger onto the global agenda. We need a new hero. Is there a climate change Bob Geldof out there?
This article appeared in print under the headline 鈥淗olding out for a climate hero鈥�
