today, we're all about climate change. in the indian city of delhi, air pollution levels are sky-high again. the causes may be many and varied, but humans are behind all of them. in uganda, a new hydro-electric plant promises clean energy. but will locals also benefit? first, though, we talk to scientists about the connection between climate change and natural disasters. reporter: extreme weather events are growing ever more frequent. natural disasters -- more destructive and deadly. each one reignites the debate -- was it a freak of nature, or a result of climate change and human activity?

recent hurricanes harvey, irma and maria killed over 200 people in the u.s. and the caribbean, and they caused nearly $1 trillion worth of damage. donald trump, an outspoken climate change skeptic, visited the disaster area, and he continues to rule out that human activity could have caused the catastrophe. but now there's a field of science which, for the first time, is able to estimate whether a natural disaster was a young german physicist at britain's oxford university is studying hurricane harvey. similar studies on the floods in louisiana last year produced clear results. friederike: during those studies we discovered that climate change had, on average, doubled the probability of this torrential rain occurring. so it would be surprising if we got a totally different result in a neighboring state at the

same time of year just 12 months later. reporter: so far the discussion about natural disasters and their possible link to climate change has been largely a political one. it's a high-stakes debate, involving powerful industries on the one hand, and a risk to people's lives on the other. friederike: in most cases it's always been politicians who put forward answers in the debate. that was what motivated us to say, over the past five years, we've developed these methods that allow us to make a qualified assessment, and we need to publicize that. reporter: it's a whole field known as attribution science. the data of recent extreme weather events is compared with long-term climate models. last winter, for example, the arctic saw record temperatures. at the north pole, they even rose above freezing in december.

that's more than 20 degrees celsius above normal. what's new about otto's work is that she can calculate how the weather would be in a world without human-induced climate change factors, like greenhouse gases. when she compared that model for the arctic with the latest data from the heatwave there, she was shocked by the results. friederike: if you look at extreme heatwaves in summer, they might be six degrees celsius above normal. but not 20 degrees. so in meteorological terms, it was a really, really extreme event. reporter: otto has built a computer network to process the huge volume of data her climate models involve. it allows her to calculate how much climate change has increased the probability of an extreme weather event, like here in the arctic. friederike: in this case, our results showed that without climate change, this kind of weather event would have been

practically impossible. this was the greatest increase in probability that we've seen to date. on average, human-induced climate change made it 300 times more probable. reporter: conversely, friederike otto and her team can also prove if a natural disaster was not a result of climate change. for the record floods in southern germany in 2013, for example, the climate data showed no significant deviation in expected rainfall. so there must have been other reasons for the floods. buildings too close to rivers, perhaps. a lack of dredging, a lack of flood plains. in other words, failures at government level. but elsewhere in europe, climate change has led to natural disasters. the south of the continent has experienced repeated record heatwaves in the last few years. attribution scientists say that's because the probability of extreme temperatures has multiplied, leading to more

forest fires, water shortages, and drought. worldwide, habitable zones are shrinking, which could have drastic knock-on effects. millions of people could potentially be forced from their homes. friederike: with all the heatwaves that we've studied on various continents, europe in summer is in fact one of the hotspots, if you like, for climate change. not on the same level as the arctic, but nevertheless, it's a place where you can see that climate change has significantly increased the probability of this kind of heatwave. reporter: the implications of this relatively new science could change our world. three coastal communities in california have now filed a lawsuit against exxon mobil and other fossil fuel producers, saying that rising sea levels are linked to harmful emissions. and countries like the united states or germany might one day actually be called to account for failing to achieve their environmental goals, thereby

promoting climate change -- all on the basis of evidence produced by attribution science. host: by 2040, experts expect renewables to be supplying huge amounts of energy. and the industry is also driving job growth. the sector already employs 9.8 million people -- 3.6 million of them in china alone. that's a 40% rise worldwide in the last five years. global energy supplies already come from a range of sources. by 2040, power we harvest from sunlight is set to triple. wind power will double. a coalition of 48 developing nations acutely affected by climate change have pledged to become 100% reliant on climate-friendly energy by 2050. there's no question that global

energy demand will rise. it's forecast to double by 2040 -- not least because many people are only now gaining access to energy for the first time, like in uganda. reporter: the sebunoly family make their way to their former home. they were forced to move away from here four years ago because their house was too close to the site of a new hydroelectric power plant. william: it feels good to be back here in the mountains. this is where i was born. >> i was born here, and so were my mum and dad. we had all kinds of crops -- corn, cassava, coffee -- so we

always had something to eat, and we had money. reporter: the family farmed three acres of land here at an altitude of 1500 meters. they can still use a small area of it, so they return regularly. four other families were also forced to move to make way for the new power plant. the concrete channel -- where the lubilia river is to be redirected in the future -- is almost ready. peter kimuli works as a project manager for a danish company called frontier energy. it specializes in developing renewable energy projects in africa. peter: the lubilia river will still be flowing in its natural course. certainly, there will be a reduced flow in especially during the dry months. but during the wet months, it will be like normal, there will be almost no difference. reporter: the channel is two kilometers long. what's decisive for producing

power is the force with which the water drives the turbines. so from here, the water will pass through steel pipes, plunging 264 meters down the mountain. peter: the reason we need the concrete canal is to convey water out of the river to this point where we are, which is the forebay. what we are looking for is a net head between this point and the powerhouse where we generate all our electricity. reporter: the entire project is set to cost $16 million. before the work even began, a feasibility study was carried out to show whether the location was suitable. that study alone cost $600,000. the united nations' green climate fund now provides money for these kinds of initiatives. in the past, it was always difficult to get funding for feasibility studies. peter: because of the risk. i mean, you have got to get a

group of people -- or engineers -- that know what they're doing and that are able to look at a site from the very beginning and assess what the likelihood of this project goi forward is. that becomes very, very key. reporter: two turbines are due to arrive soon. the hydroelectric power plant is designed to produce over five megawatts of electricity when running at capacity -- that' enoughor 37,500 useholds. the plant is supposed to provide electricity to this remote when region on the border to the democratic republic of congo. but the local residents aren't yet linked to the power grid. so for theime being,hey won't b. peter: what we tell them is the yet linked truth. power grid. we tell them that as a generator in uganda, we cannot provide electricity directly to them. but what we can do though is to, let's say, intercede with the necessary department or

government authority to bring about the aspect of no electricity in a particular area, for them to focus on that. that's what we do. reporter: this dough will be used to make a wedding cake. it's all part of a cookery course for local women. >> then you can use your hands. so you need to wash your hands, remove all of it from your hands. reporter: 238 families have been affected by work on the power plant, so the company has to give back to the community in other ways. biira rita is in charge of the course. she has also set up lessons in beekeeping and arable farming. biira: if you give them a hands-on training like baking, where they produce a product and sell it off, they could be able to support themselves with the basics. they don't have to ask the men for everything. reporter: back to the sebunoly family -- for the past eight months, they've been living in

their new home on the plains, 15 kilometers from their old one. >> the first time i came here, i was very happy with our new home. but gradually we realized that our new life was very hard. we hardly had anything to eat, even though we had a nice home. reporter: from january to june this year, there was a drought. that meant the family was unable to harvest anything. the house only came with a small plot of land, and the banana plants are still too young to bear fruit. if they didn't have the remainder of their farmland up in the mountains, the family would be even worse off. once a week, employees from frontier energy visit them. four of the children are no longer going to school, because the family can't afford to pay the fees.

peter: we will definitely look into the whole issue of the land being far, and just review that with them. we'll just go back and look at what led them to choose that place over, let's say, one that is near, and then we will find some way of bringing to them a piece of land that is closer to them. reporter: the father and one of the sons are currently working as day laborers to help the family scrape by. the hydroelectric power company still has their work cut out for them. host: our #kids4climate have plenty to do, too. jana, ludwig and anna are all committed to protecting the environment and slowing the pace of climate change. reporter: 11-year-old jana reiter is organizing a clothes swap party at her school. it's the second time she's done it. jana: because it's important that we all do something to reduce the level of consumerism -- that we take a stand against so much new stuff being bought. if you buy less because you swap

more, there's less need to grow so much cotton, which in turn means that fewer pesticides are released into the environment. reporter: environmental protection is important in lessons, too. jana believes it will be one of the biggest issues for her generation. jana: if you are many, you can bring about real changes. and we have to tell the adults what to do because this is our future and at some point they won't be alive anymore. then we'll be the adults, so we have to do something for our that really stayed with me, because it's so important. it's about our future. reporter: 15-year-old ludwig essig lives in a small town in southwest germany, where he's surrounded by nature. ludwig and his team set up protest rallies seeking to

persuade politicians to do more to protect the environment. ludwig: it would be even more fun if they'd actually listen to our arguments and responded. but all in all of course, it's fun for the team to be out there getting involved in politics. ♪ anna: 20 years ago, for example, there weren't any marbled fritillary butterflies here. now i see them all the time in the summer. so it's clear that climate change is having an effect. reporter: anna uploads her pictures to an online database. it's a place for people to document the flora and fauna in their state. she's already uploaded about 700 entries. each discovery is flagged on the map.

anna: climate protection is fun, because it gives me something in return. i feel like i'm doing something worthwhile with my time. i really enjoy it. host: doctors in new delhi have declared a public health emergency. the problem? poor air quality. and it's not the first time. cold air forces the smog down into the city, so pollution levels are particularly bad in winter. the air is so toxic right now that most schools have been closed. the indian government is enforcing driving restrictions to try to get the situation back under control. in 2014, the world health organization named the city the world's most heavily polluted capital. reporter: every year, over a million people die prematurely in india because of toxic particles in the air -- that's according to a u.n. study.

in new delhi, there's no escaping the pollution. jyotsna: it started when i coughed a lot. i used to cough in the morning. i used to cough at night. i used to cough continuously. and my mother and father used to wake up with me at night, trying to help me prevent the coughing, but nothing really helped. reporter: jyotsna pandit is 17 years old. she's very concerned about the air pollution in her home city. jyotsna: so finally we went to the doctor and he told us that i have this condition, it's an allergy, which is aggravated by dust and other particulate pollutants in the air. reporter: car sales across india reached record levels this past year. the capital alone has 10 million registered vehicles. many have diesel engines, which are particularly toxic. last year, emissions in new delhi were nearly 30 times higher than world health organization limits. india's former environment

minister says for years, the government's main focus has been on economic growth -- whatever the cost. jairam: ultimately, you know, people want jobs, people want projects, people want factories. those are the visible signs of progress, right? pollution is seen to be, ok, we cough a little, but that's something that we need to do, or we have to do in order to industrialize and urbanize. but i think as public awareness increases, as civic movements gather apace, i think a lot of governments will have to be sensitive to these issues. reporter: citizens' initiatives like help delhi breath are upping the pressure. they want the government to tackle the problem. after ratifying the paris climate accord last year, the indian government is taking some steps. it's drawn up plans to overhaul or shut down some of the country's coal-fired power plants. the agricultural sector is also coming under pressure.

every year, farmers around the capital burn off the stubble left from harvesting rice to make space for the winter crop of wheat. the thick plumes of smoke waft into the city. that alone accounts for one quarter of delhi's air pollution. surinder panjola has been farming his fields in the district of patiala for 15 years. but these days, he does things differently. surinder: we used to burn the stubble every year, but it was bad for the environment. now the government has restricted this practice, so some of us are seeking a solution. we want to protect the environment. reporter: his solution is to use a mulcher and a rotavator, which he bought together with another farmer to cut down the straw left after harvesting. then he can just leave it lying in the field. that helps protect the winter seed, and eventually it decomposes. but many farmers are still burning their fields, as the

alternative involves buying equipment, which few can afford. the government now offers subsidies for machines that can help keep farmers from burning their fields. local ngo's are seeking to persuade the farmers to sign up, but not everyone's convinced. pargat: it takes ages to apply for the subsidies, and even then there are no guarantees you'll get the money. harminder: there's a lack of awareness. we have to work hard to persuade farmers of the advantages. that's the biggest challenge we have -- trying to point out that it's for their benefit. reporter: progress is being made, but it's slow. india has set some ambitious goals. by 2030, all public transport is to supposed to be fully electric, along with many private passenger vehicles. the government is also looking to promote renewable energies to meet the country's huge power needs. jairam: nuclear costs are going

up, coal costs are going up, but solar costs are plummeting, and i think that works to our advantage. that gets reflected in this commitment that we have made that by 2030 we will have 40% of our electricity from non-fossil fuels. i don't think that's an unreasonable target, because already we are knocking on 30%. reporter: but jyotsna pandit feels 2030 is too long to wait. she's decided to start protecting the environment herself. jyotsna: i have a first-hand experience of what children go through when they're subjected to dust particles. why don't i take an initiative to do something for the environment? reporter: together with two friends, she's developed an air filter. they entered a competition organized by the u.n. in tandem with indian industry and schools, and won an award for their invention. jyotsna: when dust collects inside the filter bags, it forms a thick barrier, which further

improves the efficiency of the filtration process. i believe that it's up to the younger generation to think about the future, think about what we're going to do when all the resources are being depleted. let's work together. it's about humanity, it's about conserving the earth. ♪ around the world. today, we head to bosnia-herzegovina. ♪ nina: hello to everyone. my name is nina petkovic. i'm 17, and i'm from mostar, bosnia-herzegowina.

i like adele's "don't you remember?," because it's my vote song and the favorite song of my friends. i like pop and i really like everything about music. my mother is a master of agronomy. she works in the education for farmers and i was sometime in her educations. it was so, so beautiful because it was a big success and i was very happy because when i see my mom while she is working, it's a special feeling, really. and my grandma is a nurse. i want to study mechanical engineering. it's not similar with either medicine or agronomy.

this building here was destroyed in the civil war in 1992. we have to look ahead and try to turn the negative things into positive ones. the youth council of the city of mostar is a non-profit and non-political organization. unfortunately, we don't have a properly functioning city council involving all ethnic groupings. but we have shown that we young people have many ideas and can work together. and it's very important for us to promote culture and ecology.

♪ >> ♪ wigglw e wiggle wiggle ♪ host: don't forget to check out our facebook page, dw global society. there, you'll find moving and inspiring stories from around the world. follow us on dw global society. that's all we have time for today. thanks for joining us. and we love hearing from you. write to us at global3000@dw.com or on facebook. see you next time. take care. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

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