Thousands of New Zealanders joined a march to protest about global warming. Marches were held in 34 locations across the country. About 7,000 people marched in Wellington from the Civic Square to Parliament, and 8,000 in Christchurch. Thousands met in Albert Park and even small towns held marches. The People’s Global March will be held in many countries tomorrow but New Zealand is first. The reason for the march is the Paris conference on climate change which begins next week. John Key will attend.
Many protesters were concerned that New Zealand is not doing enough to reduce carbon emissions. They are especially concerned that the government will do nothing about carbon emissions from agriculture, which are nearly 50% of our total. Pacific Island leaders are worried about rising sea levels in the islands.
Mr Key said that the Paris climate change conference will push for changes which will mean a maximum 2 degree Celsius rise in temperature around the world. He is in Malta at the moment at CHOGM, the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. After that he is going to Paris for climate change talks.
It is likely that 2015 will be the warmest year on record. However, the el nino weather pattern means that New Zealand does not experience the same warmer temperatures. With an el nino, we tend to have more southerlies and south westerlies which bring cooler weather.
Note: the Commonwealth is a group of 53 countries which were once part of the British Empire. Queen Elizabeth is the Queen for all these countries.
For more on the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, listen to November 24 2007
For more on el nino, listen to February 8 2012
Vocabulary
emissions (n), emit (v) – carbon which comes into the atmosphere from burning fossil fuels etc.
Pronunciation
southerlies – the first vowel sound is the same as in ‘mother’