'Like how the dinosaurs came to their ending, that hot' -9-year-old on U.N. climate report

Record ID: 1631485

  • Title: 'Like how the dinosaurs came to their ending, that hot' -9-year-old on U.N. climate report
  • Date: 9th August 2021
  • Summary: WASHINGTON D.C., UNITED STATES (AUGUST 9, 2021) (REUTERS) PEOPLE IN FRONT OF THE WHITE HOUSE GROUP OF YOUNG PEOPLE VISITING WASHINGTON D.C. FROM LOS ANGELES AND SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA LEGS OF PEOPLE WALKING TOWARDS THE FENCING IN FRONT OF THE WHITE HOUSE (SOUNDBITE) (English) VISITING DC FROM SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES, WORKS IN A BANK, SOMALI ORIGIN, MOHAMED, 25, SAYING: "I wouldn't say it scares me because, like, you got to be hopeful. You've got to be optimistic because if you don't, who else will? So like I said, the first step is finding the right solutions. So we have to ask the right questions. How can we get rid of this? What can we do to prevent it? What other alternatives is there, like eco friendly fuel? What else? There's a couple of stuff. (U.S. President Joe) Biden was even talking about. But like I said, if nobody else talks about it, how can we get through it." FAMILY VISITING WASHINGTON D.C. FROM BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, WALKING PAST A PROTEST STAND OUTSIDE THE WHITE HOUSE TWO PEOPLE TALKING BY WHITE HOUSE FENCING, ONE WIPING FOREHEAD (SOUNDBITE) (English) VISITING DC FROM BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, UNITED STATES, ACCOUNTANT GREG LEBLANC, 46, SAYING: "Yeah, I'm pretty concerned. I'm just watching what the world looked like when I was younger to what it is now and how the climate is a lot different. And you can see it in the news, what's happening to the environment. And, you know, the polar ice caps are melting. We went to a vacation to Alaska a few years ago. And, you know, the tour director was just showing us how much ice used to be there compared to now. And, you know, so I just don't know what this world's going to look like in a few years, especially for our children, if they don't have the same resources that that we have. So I just wish more was sort of done to kind of conserve and make sure that we're not using more than we need. We try to do as much as we can as a family. But, you know, I mean, I look around and they feel like at this point in our lives, why aren't all cars electric at this point? You know, so I feel like just could be more collectively done by the the world to probably help out. So I get a little concerned about what's going to happen about 20 years from now." RACHEL POLATSEK, 9, WITH A SIBLING, MOM AND ANOTHER RELATIVE VISITING WASHINGTON D.C. FROM SCRANTON, PENNSYLVANIA RACHEL HUGGING HER MOTHER OUTSIDE THE WHITE HOUSE (SOUNDBITE) (English) VISITING DC WITH FAMILY, FROM SCRANTON, PENNSYLVANIA, UNITED STATES, RACHEL POLATSEK , 9, "I'm scared for that (climate change), because if it gets so hot, the waters might get really hot and it might boil up like like how the dinosaurs came to the ending like that hot." PEOPLE UNDER AN UMBRELLA DRINKING WATER OUTSIDE THE WHITE HOUSE (SOUNDBITE) (English) VISITING DC FROM TABERNASH, COLORADO, UNITED STATES, RETIRED REGISTER NURSE AND RESEARCHER AT UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO ANDREA SINGLETON, 67, SAYING: "We now have lots of smoke that fills our skies from all of the Western wildfires (in her mountain area in Colorado), so climate is affecting us even in our small town areas." (SOUNDBITE) (English) VISITING DC FROM NORTH CAROLINA, U.S. VETERAN ROCKY MOORE, 69, SAYING: "The climate change throughout the centuries, and it's there. It's just part of our history. We're going to go through it and I'm not concerned about it." GROUPS OF PEOPLE IN THE VICINITY OF THE WHITE HOUSE VARIOUS OF CONSTRUCTION WORKERS SHOVELING ASPHALT OUTSIDE THE WHITE HOUSE CONSTRUCTION WORKER ANTONIO LOMBA LOOKING ON (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) CONSTRUCTION WORKER ORIGINALLY FROM PORTUGAL, 30 YEARS IN THE UNITED STATES, ANTONIO LOMBA, 62, SAYING: "Sometimes we stop (working) and we leave. When temperatures get too hot we can't make it, people can't stand it." CONSTRUCTION WORKER OPERATING VEHICLE ON NEWLY ASPHALTED ROAD ACROSS THE WHITE HOUSE
  • Embargoed: 23rd August 2021 19:10
  • Keywords: Climate Change IPCC UN Washington reaction report
  • Location: WASHINGTON, DC, UNITED STATES
  • City: WASHINGTON, DC, UNITED STATES
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Climate Change,Environment,General News,Government / Politics,United States,Climate Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA001EPK7F47
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: The United Nations panel on climate change told the world on Monday (August 9) that global warming was dangerously close to being out of control - and that humans were "unequivocally" to blame.
    U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres described the report as a "code red for humanity" and many in Washington D.C. shared that level of concern.
    "I just don't know what this world's going to look like in a few years, especially for our children, if they don't have the same resources that that we have," said Greg Leblanc, an accountant from Boston standing next to his wife and children outside the White House.
    Already, greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere are high enough to guarantee climate disruption for decades if not centuries, the report from the scientists of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warned.
    In other words, the deadly heat waves, gargantuan hurricanes and other weather extremes that are already happening will only become more severe. Or in the words of 9-year-old Rachel Polatsek from Scranton, Pennsylvania: "I'm scared for that because if it gets so hot, the waters might get really hot and it might boil up like like how the dinosaurs came to the ending like that hot."
    This year, heat waves killed hundreds in the Pacific Northwest and smashed records around the world. Wildfires fuelled by heat and drought are sweeping away entire towns in the U.S. West, releasing record carbon dioxide emissions from Siberian forests, and driving Greeks to flee their homes by ferry.
    In three months, the U.N. COP26 climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland, will try to wring much more ambitious climate action out of the nations of the world, and the money to go with it.
    (Production: Gershon Peaks, Temis Tormo)
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