Climate change is all around us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Last week, it was Storm Ciara that tore across the United Kingdom and brought dangerous levels of rain, wind, snow, and ice. People died. Travel chaos reigned for days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Last month, it was hundreds of deadly wildfires in Australia, massive blazes fueled by three years of drought that experts attributed to climate change. Torrential rains followed, extinguishing nearly all the wildfires but bringing their own set of problems, such as flooding and mudslides.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Closer to home, Columbia\u2019s big flood of 2015 hasn\u2019t yet receded from memory, and more flooding hit the Midlands and other parts of South Carolina earlier this month after powerful storms hit the state. Twice already in 2020, the popular West Columbia Riverwalk and Park has been closed temporarily because of inundated trails and boardwalks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Many of us aren\u2019t sure how to take up the urgent challenge of combating climate change, particularly when our federal government foolishly pulled us out of the 2016 Paris Agreement, in which 196 nations pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We know we must continue to make changes in our own lifestyle (driving less, flying less, cutting down on fossil fuel use, conserving water, arranging carpools, and so on), and we must increase the pressure on governments and business\u2014 at all levels\u2014to act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But what else? Women and girls are showing us the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since 2014, according to the Quartz website, women have been \u201cthe public face of the climate movement.\u201d Women led the first People\u2019s Climate March that year, which attracted more than 400,000 people worldwide, most of them women. In September 2019, the largest worldwide climate strike yet was held, with 7.6 million climate protesters\u2014dominated by women and young people\u2014taking to the streets of the world\u2019s cities to demand action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s easy to see why young people are at the forefront of this movement: they will be dealing with the effects of climate change much longer than older folks. Plus, there is \u201cno Planet B,\u201d as the young protestors, such as 17-year-old Greta Thunberg of Sweden, remind us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Why should women and girls be especially concerned about climate change? Because gender and climate change are inextricably linked: Studies have shown that 80 percent of the people affected by climate change are women. Natural disasters disproportionately affect poor communities, and women make up 70 percent of the world\u2019s people living in poverty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Women and children are 14 times more likely than men to die during a disaster, according to the United Nations. The Utne Reader explains why: \u201cPoor women and children may live in places vulnerable to landslides or flooding, and can lack easy access to emergency information. Climate change can also affect the availability of food, which hits women harder if they eat less to save more for their children or elderly relatives.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There\u2019s more. Violence against women increases after a natural disaster because of increased traumatic stress, scarcity of basic supplies, and destruction of authority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Females, however, are taking action. Consider Women4Climate, an initiative to bolster more female leaders worldwide in the fight against climate change. Anne Hidalgo, the first woman mayor of Paris, launched the program in 2017 to \u201cempower a new generation of women to tackle climate change and give them the tools to become climate leaders.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Women4Climate invites top female leaders to mentor other women working on local climate projects. There are currently active Women4Climate mentorships in Paris, Sydney, Tel-Aviv, London, Quito, Montreal, and Vancouver, with upcoming programs in Auckland, Barcelona, and New Orleans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hidalgo is also chair of the C40 Climate Leadership Group, a worldwide alliance of majorcity mayors who believe their cities must take the lead on climate change. She is leading the charge, and has committed Paris to banning diesel cars by 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n