Climate Change: Mitigating the consequences

Climate change is here with us and the consequences are all too evident to everyone. Most people understand the idea of climate change – at least through its negative consequences. As part of efforts to continue sensitising the public on preventing and limiting the impact of climate change, Dr Adrien Djomo, a Cameroonian-born lecturer with Queen’s University, Kingston, Canada, launched two books on the subject on March 22, 2016.

The event, which was held in the AGESFO Hall in Etoa-Meki, Yaounde, was moderated by Kabelong Banoho Louis-Paul-Roger, a PhD student with the University of Yaounde I. The books are the 144-page “Climate Change: The Earth in the Palm of Our Hands” and “Climate Change Mitigation. Forest Ecosystems: Measurement And Modelling of Biomass and Carbon,” 423 pages long. They were both published by IFED Publishing House, Canada, in 2015. The two books cost 30,000 FCFA and will soon be available in local libraries.

Speaking at the event, the reviewer, Prof. Zapfack Louis, a climate change expert from the University of Yaounde I, described “Climate Change Mitigation. Forest Ecosystems: Measurement And Modelling of Biomass and Carbon,” as “educative.” He said it provides a lot of statistics and suggests efforts to reduce greenhouse emissions. “Written in simple English, the work also offers information on data collection and sampling. It is one of the rare books to be published in tropical countries. It is a must-read,” he explained, though regretting that no glossary was provided.

On the other hand, “Climate Change: The Earth in the Palm of Our Hands,” tackles different aspects of climate change. It contains a chapter on the research work of Dr Djomo’s students. According to the author, climate change concerns everyone, though everyone has their perspective of it. He listed the impact of climate change to include the El Nino phenomenon, fluctuating weather, rising ocean and sea water levels, recurrent droughts, downpours, water scarcity for agriculture, bush fires and the destruction caused to ecosystems.

“My works are meant for university students, lecturers and researchers as they contain inform on research methodologies, forest surveys, data collection and biomass calculation,” Dr Djomo noted. Asked why the books were published now, he explained that at the recent climate change summit in Paris, France, most stakeholders acknowledged that it was time to take action against climate change.

“Moreover, I have been working on the subject for several years with students and other researchers. The aim is to get more people to be involved in climate change issues. I want decision-makers to realise that climate change is not only a problem of experts, but concerns everybody,” he pointed out.