today,y, we're all a about clie change. in the indian tyty of dei, a air pollution levels arere sky-hih 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 connenectn between climate change and natural disasters. reporterextreme weather events .

natural disasters -- more destructe and deadly. each one reignites the debate -- was it a freak of nature, or a result of climate e change and human actitivity? recent hurricanes harvey, irma and maria killed o over 200 peoe 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 h have caused te cacatastrophe. but now there's a a field of st time, isis able to eststimae whwhether a natutural disasters a a young germanan physicist a t britaiain's oxford u universits studying hururricanearvevey. similar r studies on the floodsn louisiana last year r produced clear resusults. friederike: duriring those stuts we disiscovered that climate

change had, on average, doubled the probability of this torrentitial rain occurring.g. so it wowould be surprising ife got a totally different result in a neighboring statete at te same timimof year just 12 mohshs ter. reporterso f far t discucuion ababout tural l sasterers d their ssibibleink to c climate change has been largely a political one. it's a high-stakes debate, involving powerful industries on e one hand, and a risk to people's lives on the other. frieiederike: in m most cases s always b been liticicianwho put forwrwd answers in the debatat. that w was what motitivated uo say, over ththe past five year, wewe've delopeped these methos thatat allow us toto make a qualified asassessment, anande needed to publicizize that. reporter: itit's a whole f fid known as attribution science. the data of rerecent extreme weather events is compared with long-term climate models.

lalast winter, for example, te 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 heheatwaveves in summ, they might be x dedegrees cecelsiuabove e rmal. friebubunot 20 degrees. at soso in meteorolological termst was s a really, realally extre event. rererter: otto has built a a computerer network to o procese huge volume ofof data her clcle momodels involveve. it allows her to calculate how much climate change has increaeased the probability ofn 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 possible. is was t grereatt increaea in probability that we've seen to date. on average, human-induced climate change made it 300 times more prorobable. rereporter: convnversely, friede 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 elelsewhere e in europe,e, e changegeas leded to naturarl 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 droughght. worldwidide, habitabable zonese shrinkining, which couould have drastic knock-on effects.mid poteiaially forcecefrom tirir mes. friederikewiwith a the hesuer is inact one thedi on n tspotsif you le, f for climate change. increasethe probility thatclimay aric,this kd of heaave. itit a reporter: the implications of this relatively new science could change our world. three coastal communities in california have now filed a lawsuit against exexxon mobil d other fossil fueuel producere, sayingng that rising s sea les

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 prododuced by attrtribution sci. host: by 2040, experts expect renewables t to be supplyiyinge amounts of e energy. and ththe industry i is also drg job grgrowth. ththsthem in china alone.oys 98 mthat's a 40% rise worldwide inf the last f five years. global energy supplies already come from range of sources. by 2040,owower we harvesest frm sunlight is set to triple. wi p power wl dodouble a coition of 4developi naons acely affect by

climate e ange he e pledgeto come 100% relit on climatfriendly ergy by050. ere's no qstion at globa energy demand will rise. it's forecast to double by 2040 -- not leaeast because m many pe are ly n now gning a accs to ergy for the fir timime, 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 e 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 somomething to eat, d wewe 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 duringng the dry months.

but during the wet months, it will be like normal, there will be almost no differerence. 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 enengines ---- that know what ththey're g and that are able to look at a site from the very beginning and assess w what the likelihood f this project going 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's enough for 37,500 households. the plant is supposed to provide electricity to this remote region on the border to the democratic republic of congo. but the local residents aren't yet linked to the power grid. so for t the time bebeing, they won't benenefit. peter: what we tell them is the truth. we tell them that as a a generar 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 handnds-on training like bakin, whe ththey produduce a product d 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. >> t the firstst time i came hei 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 definititely lok 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 brbringing to thema piece e of land that is closero them. reporter: the father and one of the sons are currently wororkig as day l laborers s to help the family scrape by. the hydroelectric popower compy 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 inin lelessons, too. janana believes it will be onef 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 someme point t thy 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 fritillalary 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 onlnline databa. 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 prototection is f, because itit gives me somethg in turn. i feel like i'dodoing someththg worthwhile with my time. i relynjoy it. host: doctors s new delhihi he declared a public health emergency. the problem? poor air quality. and d it's not thehe first ti. cold airir forces the e smog n ininto the city,y, so pollutioin levelsls are particucularly ban winter. the e air is stoxic righnonow ththat most schohools have beeen closed. . the indian g goverents enforcing drivg g restctions to tryo o get e situtuatn back undeder control. in 2014, the worldealtlt ororganizaonpital.hereport: ever rld's mo heavi pollulud

million people d die prematurey in india becauause of toxic particles in the air -- that's according to a u.n. study. in new delhi, there's no escaping the pollution. jyototsna: it started d when i cougugd a a lot. i used to cocough in the morni. escaping the pollution. i useded to cough continuousl. and my mother and father useto wakeke up with me at night, tryg to help p mererevent the c coug, but nothing realally helped. reportrter: jyotsna pandit is 7 years old. she's very concerned about the r pollutioion in her home city. jyotsna: so finally we went to the doctor and he told us that i have thihis condition, it's an allergy, which is aggravatatedy dust and other particulate pollutants in n the air. repoporter: car sales across ina reached record levels this past registered vehicles. tmany have diesel engines, which are particularly t toxic.lw

delhi were nearly 30 times higher than world health organization limits. india's former environment minister says for years, thehe government's main focus has s bn on econonomic growth -- whatevr the cost. jairam: ultimately, yoyou kno, people want jobs, , people wat projectsts, people w want facto. those are ththe visible signs f progress, right? pollution isis seen to be,e, oe cough a lilittle, but thatat's something that we e need to do,r we have to do in orderer to dustrialize and urbabanize. cbut i think as public c awarens soincreases, as civic movementsr gather apace, i think a lot of governments will have to be sensitive to these issues. reporterer: citizens' initiatis lilike help delhi breath arere upping the pressure. they want ththe governntnt to tackle the problem. after r 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 a also comimi under preresse. every year, farms ararou the capitaburnrn o the stutule left from haestitingice to make scece forhe wininr crop wheat.. the thick t into the cy.y. that alone accous for on quararter of delhihi's air popollution. dbsubad for the envinment.t.nnoo stbso of us a seekingsoluluti.. poporter: his solulution is to e a mulcheher and a rotatavator, h he bought together with another farmer to cut down the straw le after harsting. en he can st leave ilying

in the field. that helps protect the winter seed, , and eventualally it dedecomposes. but t many farmersrs are still burning their fifields, as the alternative involves buying equipment, which few can afford. the government now offers susubsidies for machines that n help keep farmrmers from burnig their fielelds. local ngo's are seekeking to pepersuade the farmers t to sig, but t not everyone's convivin. pargat: it takakes ages to appy for the subsidies, andnd even tn erere are no guauarantees you'l get the money. harminder: there's a lacack of awareness. we have to work hard to persuade farmerers of the advantages. ththat's the biggest challllene haveve -- trying t to point outt itit's for theirenefit. reporter: prprogre is being made, bubut it's slow.w. india has set some a ambitio goals.s. by 2030, a all public trtranspos to supposed to be fully electric, along with many private passenger vehicles. the government is also looking

to promote renewable eneieies to memeet the country's h huge wr eds. jajairam: nuclear costs are ing up, coal costsre going u but solar costs are plummeting, and i think that works to our advantage. that gets reflected in t this commitmement that we have made thatat by 2030 we will have e 4f our electricity omom non-fossil fuels. i don't t think that's n unreasonable tget, b because already y we are knocking on 3. report: bubut jyotsna a pandit fefeels 2030 is too long to wa. she's decided toto sta protecting the environment herself. jyotsna: i have a first-hand experience of what children go throrough when they'rere subjed to dust paparticles. why don't i take an initiative to do something for the environment? reporter: together with twoo friends,he's develeloped an air filter. they entered a competion organizezed by the u.n. in tanm with indiaian industry and scschools, andnd won an awawardr

their invention. jyotsna: when dustst collects inside t the filter bags, it fos a thick barrier, which further improves the efficieiency of te filtraration procecess. i believe e that it's upup to te younunger generationon to ththik about the fufuture, ththink at whwhat we're going to do whehel the resources are being deplplet. lelet's work t toget. it's about humanity, it's about consererving the earth. ♪ around the world. today, we headad to bobosnia-herzegovina. ♪

nina: hello to everyone. myame is nina petkovic. i'm m 17, and i'm m from most, bosnia-h-herzegowina.a. ♪ i like adele's "don'n't you remember?," bebecause it's my vote s song and the fafavorite sosong of my f friends. i like popop and i really y like evererything aboutut music. my motother is a master of agronomy. she works in t the education fr farmers s and i was sosometimn her r ucations.. it was so,o, so beautifuful bee it was a big success and i was very happy because whehei see my mowhile e isis working, it's a spececial feing,g, reay. ananmy grandma is a nue.e. i wa t to studmechchanic

engineering. it's not similar with either memedicine or agagronomy. we have to look ahead antry y to in the civivil w in 191992 positive one the youth council of the city of mostar is a non-profit and non-political orgaganization. unfortunatately, we don'n't haa properly functionining city council invovolving all etethc grououpings. but we have shshown th we yoyon

people h have many ideas and cn work tetether. and d it's very important for s to proromote culture and ecolo. ♪ >> ♪ wigglw e wiggle wigiggle ♪ host: don't forget to check out our facebook page, dw global society. there, you'll find moving and inspiring sties s from around the world. follow us on dw global society. that's all we have time for today. thahanks for joining u. and we love hearing g from y.. write to us at global3000@dw.com or on facecebook. see you next time. take care.

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12/08/17 12/08/17 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from m pacifica, this is democrcracy now!w! >> look, peoplple are inin the streets. there are chcheckpoints. there arare demonstrationsns. people are alslso begg killed, assassinated by the apparatatusf ththe state.e. ththere is a massisive protest f society because of the lack of transparency in the