01. Interview

Our Question: a) Ask ten people what they think about: 1.The climate change 2.The possible consequences for your country - and take note of the answers. b) What do yout think about these answers?

02. Search the local newspapers of your country for articles about climate change.

Our Question: a) What kind of direct problems have been mentioned? b) What solutions have been proposed? c) What priority have these reports about climate change been given in the newspapers in your country? d) Which headline caught your eye and impressed you the most? Explain the reason why. e) Which headline would you give an article about climat change?

03. The topic of climate change arouses a number of strong emotions in people.

Our Question: a) Write down your emotional feelings for the words “anger, responsibility, hope and indifference” in connection with the topic of climate change. b) Which kind of emotion do you feel most strongly in connection with the topic of climate change? (This does not have to be one of the four mentioned above). Explain the reasons why.

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01. Interview

Our Answer: 1. a) 1: Most of the people we asked, answered, that we should take the climate change really seriously. Although we can’t see the consequences right now, it’s very important, that people take counter measures against the climate change right now, because later it might be too late. The climate change is clearly caused by human beings and not only by cows or termites. We think that every country should work against it and we are really disappointed by the USA and China, that they didn’t join the Kyoto-Protocol. 2. The consequences would affect our agriculture and our economy. The climate change would impair the tourism in our plenty ski-regions. ⇒ The glaciers are already melting ⇒ There will be more floods ⇒ Fewer tourists, which come for skiing or snowboarding, because the snowline will rise. ⇒ The Permafrost disappears more and more and the consequences are stone pits and things in the stone (like elevators) will loosen. ⇒ In the winter there will be more precipitations → more erosion ⇒ Ticks are going to spread in the whole country. 1. b) In our opinion, all these answers are correct. And we see that people deal with the climate change.

02. Search the local newspapers of your country for articles about climate change.

Our Answer: 2. a) The flora and fauna will be affected – and it is already. The people who will suffer most from the climate change will be the poor of the world. Loss of property caused by natural catastrophes will be huge and the costs will be enormous. China, India and Bangladesh will be flooded and millions of people will lose their home and death will appear. Because of the floods in coastal areas the crops will drop out and many people will suffer from hunger. It’s possible that illnesses will spread, for example Malaria. b) We should save on crude oil as good as we can, and we should use renewable energies (like wind, water, sun, tide, geothermic warmth, and so on..). All the people should use the car less often and it’s useful to separate the garbage. c) It’s constantly mentioned in newspapers and on television but it’s not the number one priority. d) None e) “It’s important to act.” The message is short and precise.

03. The topic of climate change arouses a number of strong emotions in people.

Our Answer: 3a) Anger: • We get less snow, but nobody does anything against it. • We are angry about the USA and China, because they don‘t do anything against the climate change. • We are angry about the people who don’t want to accept the climate change and don’t do anything against it. • I’m angry when I think about the people who don’t care of their children’s future. These people think that they are already dead when the climate change is extreme and that the world disappears and so they don’t worry about that. • Nobody seems to be willing to start improving the situation. Responsibility: • We feel responsible for our planet. It’s our responsibility to care for this world so that the next 100 generations can live here too. • Many people think that changes of their habits won‘t change anything, because they seem to be the only ones that do so. • I think everyone should feel responsible for the climate change and not just say: "Why should I care about the people in other countries?" • We have to take responsibility about the consequences of the climate change. • If we don’t do anything, there will be no improvement. Hope: • We hope that we can do something, we hope that we don’t destroy this planet, we hope that all countries realize how bad the situation is and what we have to do about it. But if every person changes some habits, it will have a significant influence on the climate change, which then raises hope for other people. • We hope that we can stop the climate change, but we know that hope isn’t enough and we should do something. • We hope that everybody will contribute to stop climate change. And that everybody will start to think about the consequences. Indifference: • We don’t like the people who don’t care about the climate change. • Some people don’t care about the climate change, because they think that this topic is used by the mass media for scaring the people. • We should forget the differences between the nations and really try to preserve our climate. • There exists indifference because nobody does something. And nobody is aware about the consequences. 3b) We feel responsibility, we feel consternation (girls) and indifference (boys). We feel helplessness because we don’t know what to do and we can’t change anything on our own. The emotion of “I have to do something” or fear of the uncertainty about what will happen in the future appears. Responsibility, even if we don’t do much to improve the situation. We think everybody should take responsibility now.

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