today,y, we're all a about clie change. in the indian tyty of dei, a air pollution levels arere sky-hih today,y, we'again. a about clie 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. reporter: extreme weather event.

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 hururricane harvevey. 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 timime of yeajujust 12 mohs lar. repoporter: so far the discussn ababout natural l disasterers ad their possibible link to c clie 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. 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 heheatwaves in s summ, but not degreesdegrees soson meteorological tms, , it was s really, really extme ent. 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 probabable. repoporter: converersely, 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 elsesewhere inin europe, c e change h h led t to naturall 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.t. worldwide,e, habitablele zonese shrinking,g, which couldld have drastic knock-on effects. llllions opeopople cld potentlllly beorced d om the hos. friederike: thth allhe atwaves that we'vetudidiedn various ntinentseuropen summ is in ft one ofhe hopots, you lik foror imate change. not onhe same vel asashe arct, bubut vertrthele, it's's place where u can e that imate chan h has snificantly creased e probility of this k. reporter: the implications of this relatively new science could change our world. three coastal communities in california have now filed a lawsuit against exxoxon mobil d otother fossil fuel l produce, saying t that rising seaea 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 producuced by attribibution sci. host: by 2040, experts expect renewables to o be supplyingnge amamounts of enenergy. and the e industry is s also drg job growowth. the sector alreaeady employs 98 million people -3.6 million ofof them in china alone. that's a 40% rise worldwide in the last fivive years. global energy supplies already me from a nge of sources. by 2040, perer we harvest t frm sua coalion of 48 velopingnanaty windowower wildoububle.

imatenergy demand will rise. it's forecast to double by 2040 -- not leastst because manany pe are on nowow gaing accccesto enengy for the firstime,e, like inin 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 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 sometething to eat, d we h 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 t the dry months.

but during the wet months, it will be like normal, there will be almost no differencnce. 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 engigines -- t that know what theyey're g and that are able to look at a site from the very beginning and assess whahat 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 thehe time beining, they won't benefifit. peter: what we tell them is the truth. we tell them that as a g 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 hands-s-on training like bakin, where theyey producece a producd 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. >> thehe first t 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 definitelely 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 brininging to thema piece ofof land that is closero them. reporter: the father and one of the sons are currently workikig as day lababorers toto help the family scrape by. the hydroelectric powewer 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 in lessssons, too. jana b 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 ture and at some p point thehy 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 dieie prematurey in india becausese of toxic particles in the air -- that's according to a u.n. study. in new delhi, there's no escaping the pollution. jyotsnsna: it started whwhen i coughehea lolot. i used to cougugh in the morni. useded to cough h at night. i used t to cough continuousl. and my mother and father used wake u up with me at night, tryg to help meme pvevent the cououg, but nothing reallyly helped. reporterer: jyotsna pandit is 7 years old. she's very concerned about the aipollution n in her home city. jyotsna: so finally we went to the doctor and he told us that i have this s condition, it's an allergy, which is aggravatededy dust and other particulate popollutants in ththe air. reportrter: car sales across ina reached record levels this past year. the capital alone has 10 million registered vehicles. many have diesel engines, which are particularly toxoxic. last year,r, emissions in neww

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 bebn on economimic growth -- - whatr ththe cost. jairam: ultimately, you u kno, people want jobs, pepeople wat projects, , people wanant facto. those are the e visible signs f progress, right? pollution is s seen to be, o oe cough a littttle, but that's's something that we neneed to do,r we have to do in order t to instrialize and urbaninize. but i think as public awawarens increases, as civic movements gather apace, i think a lot of governments will have to be sensitive to these issues. reporter: : citizens' initiatis likeke help delhi breath are upping the pressure. they want the e governme t to tackle the problem. after raratifying 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 islslso mingngnder pressssur ery year, farmerarououndhe capital rn o offhe stubbbb leftrorom harvtingng re to make spa f for t wintetecrop ofheat. the thick plumesf smsmoke ft into the cit at alone accountfor one quarteter of delhi's's air the thicpollllution.smoke ft susunder panjola has been farminhihis fiel in n the diststct of patiala for quarteter of delhi's's air the thicpolllars.on.smoke ft but t ese days, he does inings differertly. surind: wewesed to burn the ss bad for the enviroent. now the governme has restricted this acacticeso somef us areeeking a lutitionwewe wanto proct t the now enviroroent. has rertrter: his solutition is to e a mulcher r and a rotavavator, h he bought together with another farmer to cut down the straw leftfter harveing. th he can ju leave it ing in the field. that helps protect the winter

seed, anand eventuallyly it decocomposes. but mamany farmers a are still burning their fielelds, as the alternative involves buying equipment, which few can afford. ththe government now offers subsbsidies for machines that n help keep farmerers from burnig their fieldsds. lolocal ngo's are seekining to persrsuade the farmers to o sig, but nonot everyone's convincn. pargat: it takeses ages to appy for the subsidies, and e even tn the e are no guararantees you'l get the money. harminder: there's a lack k of awareness. we have to work hard to persuade farmers s of the advantages. thatat's the biggest challenene have - -- trying to o point outt it's's for their benefit. reporter: progogresss being made, bgoals.t's slow. by 2030, allll public trananspos to supposed to be fully electric, along with many private passenger vehicles. e government is also looking

to promote renewable energs s to meetet the country's huguge pr nenes. jairiram: nuclear costs are gog up, i think that works to our solar cadvantage.lummeting, and that gets reflected in thihis commitmentnt that we have made that b by 2030 we will have 404f our electricity fr n non-fossil fuels. i don't thihink that's n unreasonable target, bececause alalready wewe are knocking on. reporterbut t jyotsna papandit feelels 2030 is too long to wa. she's decided to s start protecting the environmentng on. reporterbuherself.sna papandit jyotsna: i have a first-hand experience of what children go througugh when they're s subjed toto dust partrticles. why don't i take an initiative to do something for the environment? reporter: together with two friends, s's developoped an air fifilter. they entered a competion organized d by the u.n. in tanm with indian n industry and hohools, and w won an awarardr

their invention. jyotsna: when dust c collects inside thehe filter bags, it fos a thick barrier, which further improves the efficiencncy of te filtratition processss. believe ththat it's up t to te youngeger generation t to thinik about the fututure, thinink at whatat we're going to do when l the resources are being depletetedlet't's work togoget. itit's about humanity, it's abt conserviving the earth. ♪ s from 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 when i see my mom ile she is w working, itit'a speciaial feeling, r really.

and my graengineering.rse. i it's not similar with either medidicine or agroronomy. this buildlding here wasas destd in the civilil warn 199292. we have to looaheaead antry toto positive ones. the youth council of the city of mostar is a non-profit and non-political organinization. ununfortunatelely, we don't t a properly functioningng city cocouncil involvlving all ethc groupipings. but we have showown thate young

people h have many ideas and cn cocouncwork tetether. all ethc 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 stories s from aroud the world.