African Climes

Positive Power of Sport Sports alongside music are one of the most universally acclaimed ways of bringing people together. It doesn’t matter what our religious or political affiliations are, a good game of football will bring some good cheer and endorphins flowing across the globe. Needless to say, sports personalities occupy the throne when it comes to popularity ratings. Athletes are particularly famous, becoming national icons and symbols of pride, heroes and heroines throughout the world. We name our streets and children after them. We come up with viral buzz phrases in their honour. Remember Bend it Like Beckham   in appreciation of David Beckham? These personalities have mass appeal and cult-like following. Think of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, the football legends of our generation. Each has about a dozen international awards. Both have been awarded the World’s Best Footballer award severally. Here's the Argentinian legend and FC Barcelona...

Let’s get to the topic of today : sports and climate change. First of all, everyone  loves sports. Yes we do, we adore it, love kicking a ball, watching the ball and having a ball at it. Alternatively, we love the thrill of watching someone race another fellow and win the gold, silver and bronze. More importantly, we love it when our favourite athletes sweep the podium and take all the honours. In fact, people get more patriotic when their country wins a medal. That’s when we remember all the words of the national anthem and hold our hands on our chests with fervor, respect and a little bit of wet in our eyes. Okay, let’s get to it Ladies and gentlemen, how do sports contribute to climate change? Well like this you see: Stadiums Let’s start with the materials used to build stadium. A lot of concrete is used. Plastic also. Metal too. Plastic is made of petrochemicals unless it is biodegradable plastic which is more expensive and not as readily availa...

C otton and silk are natural fabrics but, I f the fabric used is synthetic, then everything about is linked to fossil fuels. v   Polyester (synthetic) full name, polyethylene terephthalate is derived from petroleum, coal. v   Nylon is basically plastic fibres, or polyamides. v   Acrylic is polymers of polyacrylontrile (plastic) v   Synthetic latex is made from petrochemicals. v   Rayon can be semi synthetic, when cellulose from plants is strengthened by other chemical processes. N atural fabrics are mixed with synthetic ones to enhance durability, to make them water and tear resistant, hard to crease or maybe elastic. A nother way fossil fuels come in is that during the making of these synthetic fabrics, chemicals such as NaOH (Sodium hydroxide) or carbon disulfide (CS2)are used. Both come from fossil fuels. H eat and steam used in the cloth-making process comes from fossil fuels. I n some cases, forests are destroyed so that the ...

W e all love to look good. Look good, feel good. Beauty is a currency. It is also in the eyes of the beholder. What attracts the eyes about you elevates you in the sight of whoever sees you. Fashion is either classic or fads. Some dress according to what is trending, others according to their own personal style. Fashion can also be dictated by peers or work environment. Most of the times, if left to its own, true fashion is an expression of personality and so we say, to each her/his own. W hen we talk about contemporary fashion trends, the most powerful actors are those in the arts : musicians, actors and actresses, designers, influential bloggers and vloggers, models, fashion editors, sports personalities, radio and TV hosts and basically everyone who’s got some following hence clout, in entertainment. These people have mass appeal, the ability to pull in massive crowds both in actual appearances and events as well as online on social media platforms. S o today, we are going...

And now for the prequel. Scenario 4 Climate change worsens or compounds effects arising from other phenomena. Take conflict or war for example. Still back home. In a particularly hot year, the hottest in a long series of hot years, conflict broke out between the community A who were farmers and  community B who were pastoralists. Gathoni or Mso , as she is affectionately known, lives in a town that borders the huge mountain she hopes to climb one day, when she is all grown up. She dreams about it sometimes when she is hiding behind the bush that is in front of their house. This time round, she is woken from her childlike reverie by the playful hands of Kamau, who yells joyfully that he has found her and runs quickly to tap his win on the huge log which serves as the central point in their game. They are playing hide and seek. At dinnertime, Gathoni often asks her father to tell her a story. Like how they came to live here. Today, as she asks her father the same quest...