Review of an Article on Battling Climate Change in Africa

Climate change is when weather patterns change and they then can lead to or cause disasters such as droughts, hurricanes, floods and more. It is important to understand climate change as it can worsen the already damaging effects of current weather patterns. I chose to write about climate change specifically because I had been inspired by Balgis Osman-Elasha, a climate change expert, who happens to be the main character in the article, “Sudanese Scientist Battle Climate Change in Africa” by Ismail Kushkush (KushKush 2017).

I saw her on the front page of the article and thought, “if I feel helpless battling climate change and I am in America, how is someone from around the globe handling this situation?” I found that the Sudanese scientists are battling climate change by using their voices. The author speaks directly for the need for Americans to pay attention to climate change. I believe this is due to our president being incorrect about his beliefs in climate change and this is important to correct as it can affect the lives of everyone on the planet indirectly. Ismail Kushkush has a passion to speak on this because there is a drought, food crisis, and more as a resulting effect to climate change in her native Africa.

Climate change has become an increasingly alarming, hard to ignore in millions of peoples lives all around the world. That is why I believe that the author is successful in trying to guide light towards this struggle and draw attention to the significance climate change must affect everyone’s lives. I believe that the author, Ismail Kushkush, writes this article to portray the main idea that climate change will prevail and could grow rapidly out of control unless actions are taken to reverse or slow down the devastation. The author used several visuals to help illustrate the process of climate change as well as demonstrate the effects of climate change policies around the world. Specifically, the author chose to include a video about climate change marches in America in order to change policy because of the backlash of Trump’s administration pulling out of the global effort to combat climate change and global warming. Therefore, I believe the target audience Kushkush is writing towards would be the people in America who are combating change against the White House. Also, the audience of this piece may include people who are concerned with the dangerous effects of climate change and the extent to which climate change occurs. People who would like to make a difference or change all over the world may have interest in this article.

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Kushkush agrees with Balgis Osman- Elasha that climate change policy needs to change in order to combat the total damage being done. Climate Change policy is increasingly becoming an industry that needs to be addressed by the worlds populations, however leaders of countries are choosing finances over quality of life. These seemingly small policy changes can make a big impact and they are a necessity if humanity wishes to continue to grow on this planet. The author agrees with this, and this is seen in his use of Osman- Elasha’s accomplishments, such as the UN’s Champions of the Earth prize, to showcase how much improvement is needed in this field (KushKush 2017). In addition to highlighting the amount of growth that is possible, Kushkush chose to acknowledge the Trump’s administration’s decision to back out of the Paris Agreement as an example of and to identify the need for change in climate change policies.

The text evokes feelings of anger for me personally because at first, I did not see where the topic of climate change was going, or in other words I did not understand the unique point that the author was trying to bring to the table. However, when Kushkush began using the Trump Administration as an example of what NOT to do, I began to understand why the author viewed it this way. This was because the effects of climate change have affected her more in Africa than elsewhere, and in that sense has forced her to learn more about the world around her so that she can draw attention to this broad topic. The comparison to Trump and the Paris Agreement makes more sense after understanding that the Administration was brought up so that people, (the audience), would know what to change specifically. Therefore, I believe Kushkush was successful in expressing the thesis, which is that climate change is causing droughts and a resulting food crisis, because he uses Osman-Elasha’s experiences and her pleas for policy change as an example of the direct result of the climate changes that have occurred in Africa. I also believe that the author was successful in reaching his target audiences because the ending draws the reader toward the policy’s that should be a priority to change, and this is where the American’s audience’s attention is captured because it relates to them.

As expressed, at first, I was unimpressed by the lack of new information being brought to the debate of climate change, however after gaining a better understanding of the texts ideas I came to understand that Kushkush and Osman-Elasha’s viewpoints on climate change are reinforcing of my own beliefs. I can agree with the authors that climate change is important to research and that participation on a global scale is a requirement if mass changes are to occur. In my opinion, although climate change might not be as dramatic in America as elsewhere in the world, effects of it are already beginning. This is seen all over our country, for example the wildfires of California or the transitioning of La Nina across the west coast of the united states. Because of my experiences of climate change in America, I would recommend to the president of the United States to reevaluate his stance on climate change and the Paris Agreement, which is something I believe the authors and I could all agree on.

Works Cited

• Kushkush, Ismail. “Sudanese Scientist Battles Climate Change in Africa”.  Aljazeera. Al Jazeera news. 21 June. 2017.               www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/06/sudanese-scientist-battles-climate-change-africa-170621211009146.html. Accessed 17 Feb. 2019.