Our Planet with Anthony Mugo

One of the alarming reality about climate change is that no matter what humanity does to stop green-house gas (GHG) emissions, the amount of GHGs in the atmosphere is not likely to reduce over the next five to 10 decades. The gases, which include carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (NO), tend to trap heat energy generated on earth’s surface when the sun’s energy gets converted into heat when it strikes the surface. The gases behave in a similar manner as the glass surrounding a green-house does, which is to trap heat. It is this trapped heat that causes global warming. The reason why the current change in the earth’s climate will not be reversed any time soon is that some of the GHGs, particularly CO2, take at least 100 years to break down. Human beings will therefore need to live with climate change as they explore ways of reducing GHG emissions or somehow removing them from the atmosphere. Taking measures to cope with climate change is what is referred t...

My friend Brian amused us with a tale that sounded like it had come straight from the ancient times of hunter gatherer communities. During one of his travels up country, he witnessed some old men slaughtering a goat in preparation for a party that was to take place later in the day when one of his brothers was expected to arrive home to introduce his girlfriend. “After the carcass had been skinned, one of the men cut open the stomach, exposing the contents of the goat’s last meal. He then invited another old man to examine the semi-digested stuff. This process took nearly half an hour,” Brian narrated, making all of us laugh at what he had just described. On inquiring why such a ritual was necessary, Brian was informed that the old man examining the contents of the goat’s stomach could determine whether rains would be falling soon or if the community should brace for an extended drought, just by looking at what the goat had eaten. We later learnt that the contents of the ...