ñ? >> welcome to global3000. bycatch: how overfishing is threatening the last remaining stocks of sharks and rays in the mediterranean. carbon capture: a solution to climate change or a dangerous adventure? plus: waiting for the rain spot-on weather forecasts for farmers. storms, droughts, floods and wild-fires over the last 50

years the frequency of extreme weather has risen five-fold one of many shocking figures from the world meteorological organization's latest report. over two million fatalities have been attributed to these events. and weather-related disasters are also inflicting a growing financial toll. the damage wrought worldwide since 1970 is estimated at over 3-point-6 trillion us dollars. climate change is accelerating the frequency of extreme weather events. but advanced early-warning systems can now alert people to potential disasters. and farmers can put such technology to good use too as we see in india. >> like millions of other farmers in india, ravi patidar wonders every summer: when will

the monsoon come and how much rain will it bring? >> i'm totally dependent on the monsoon. without it we can't do anything on our farm. we can't start sowing seeds until the monsoon begins. >> climate change has made monsoons unpredictable. without the southwest monsoon rains, there will be no harvest for more than 100 million farmers in the country. ravi patidar lives in janakpur a village in the state of madhya pradesh. for him, the harvests aren't just crucial for his own livelihood. the 38-year-old and his wife sangeeta sent their son to a boarding school and it isn't cheap. they want him to have more opportunities than they had.

the farmer also takes care of his elderly parents. unpredictable monsoons would jeopardize the harvests. ravi patidar needs to know when it will rain at least 30 days in advance. that way, he can plow early enough so the seeds are already in the soil when it starts raining. the country's weather reports weren't precise enough, so he sought help elsewhere: online. >> i searched on google and found one of elena surovyatkina's articles. later i came across her email address and wrote to her. she answered and sent me her forecast. >> elena surovyatkina is a russian scientist at the potsdam institute for climate impact research. she developed a simple model for predicting monsoons in central india when they occur, and when

they end. the project is financed with money from the international climate protection initiative. >> we analyze data, and we found two critical points on the indian subcontinent. if we compare the temperatures in two locations one in the eastern ghats during the year and one in north pakistan during the year, we find that this temperature course intersects twice. first at the onset of the monsoon in central india, and another time at the withdrawal of the monsoon. it's an unbelievable finding. >> ravi patidar relied on the researcher's forecast and fared well. the monsoon withdrew in the middle of october, more than two eks latethan normal. but elena surovyatkina predicted it would do so 70 days in advance!

the farmer planted soybeans that can survive an extended monsoon period, and it paid off. his harvest was good! >> these soybeans withstood heavy rainfall. they suffered no damage and i can have a good harvest. i was able to achieve that by choosing these soybeans, and by relying on elena's forecast. >> but how many farmers in india know about surovyatkina's forecast? and how did those who do find out about it? at this workshop lead by the agricultural university in the state of telangana, farmers are learning how to survive in this era of climate crisis. they suggest that farmers use more climate resilient seeds and utilize more efficient irrigation methods. consultants also inform farmers about elena surovyatkina's forecasts via whatsapp or email. there are more than 5 and a

half million farmers in the state of telangana. this is the india meteorological dartment in pune the government's weather agency. with their predictions of when it will rain and how much, they help save lives like they did during the maharashtra floods in july of 2021. though 250 people lost their lives, 350,000 residents were able to be evacuated. monsoon whisperer elena surovyatkina in germany is very thankful for the work of india's officials especially for the data on air moisture and temperature that helped with her forecasts. souvlakia is widely respected among india's monsoon experts. her predictions are welcome but only as an input to the meteorology officials' own models for predicting rainfall. they think publicizing them as a separate monsoon forecast would be problematic.

>> there would be confusion among the users about which forecast to rely on, so we have to generate one single output. and to generate that single output i'm sure i there are many elenas and we need many elenas to contribute this type of information. >> during a pause in the harvest, ravi patidar has a zoom date. >> hello ravi, hello ravi, how are you? it's so nice to meet you now. >> i would like to tell you, ma'am ,i used your monsoon prediction and used long term maturity soybean seed, and it survived the rain. and my crops are safe, and i am able to earn my living. >> so good, so good, to hear this! >> thank you. >> by. >> bye. thank you. >> but while the monsoon forecasts help people adapt to climate change, they won't solve the underlying problem. >> the main problem of climate change is emission.

we need to reduce emissions and save our planet all together. this is our main goal and it's our responsibility to our children. >> ravi patidar and his soybeans have done well this season, as they did last year. with the help of a scientist in germany, the unpredictable monsoons are a bit more foreseeable. >> there's a constant stream of carbon dioxide entering the atmosphere from below. theg of fossil fuels such as oil, coal and gas primarily for heat and electricity. some scientists say climate change can only be curbed by removing co2 from the atmosphere and storing it underground. but is that feasib?

>> we know we're currently pumping too much carbon dioxide into the air. but wouldn't it be amazing if we could find a way to suck it all up and send it back deep unrground? carbon is actually decad old! the navy used capture as a way to clear the air inside submarines1 and space shtles2, that filled up with co2 from the breath of soldiers and astronauts. you may remember that scene from the movie apollo 13, where suddenlyhey had to build a co2 scrubbing system. and they dumped all this stuff out on the table and said, guys, we have three hours to figure out how to make a co2 scrubber like they had the technology already on the spacecraft. first, the polluted air is sucked into the industrial system through internal fans. after being cleaned for impurities, it is transported towards the absorption plant. it is cooled and then sent through a liquid solvent that absorbs co2, which is then moved further into the plant for processing, while the clean air, which is mostly only water

vapor by now is released. the co2, that is later stripped out of the solvent, can be used to make other products like so ash. or it is used to heat greenhouses56 or even as a fuel. you can capture co2 right at the source of the pollution like the indian factory where they burn coal, and strip the co2 out of the emitted smoke, and divert it to the adjoining soda ash factory. this is call point soue capture. hundreds of pilots and small-scale facilities and over large-scale plants9 around the 50 -- plants around the world are currently doing this. then there is direct air capture where big fans suck , large amounts of polluted air directly out of the atmosphere. 15 plants are currently doing this worldwide11, but experts say the potential is huge. the better thing to do for the environment, of course, is to prevent emissions from ever entering the air so companies are now working to inject carbon deep into the ground in

procescalled sequestration that can preserve it indefinitely. this is considered carbon negative, as it actively removes carbon from the >> we know from the arithmetic of climate that we need all of these things and we need as much of them all as we can get. in the next 30 years, we have to start removing about 10 billion tons of co2 every year. >> at the moment, it costs over $200 to remove a ton of co2 to direct capture. to scale up the industry, companies say they need to be better financial incentives. they can come in the form of credits offered by the government in exchange for removing the harmful substance from the air or captured carbon can be traded for a good price on the market. it can also come from taxing

companies that allow the carbon offset to escape. all capture and sequestration companies are collaborating with paradoxically big oil companies. >> you need someone that can store the carbon dioxide. one of the best places to store that is old oil fields. where the owners of those assets -- that is a strategic route for them to go down. to use that existing asset. >> at the same time, putting the captured co2 into the ground builds up pressure and makes it easier for even more oil to be extracted. in a process called enhanced oil recovery. up to 88% of carbocaptured and sequestered at the momen is used to extract more oil and this makes investing in carbon capture financially viable for

these oil companies. >> fossil feel companies can continue to admit and we just suck up some of their illusion and waste. there is local air polluon, theris wer pollution. finding a way to extend the life of fossil feel a way to continue poisoning planet. >> to keep the technology going, we need to ensure a clever combination of incentives for oil companies and pricing co2 higher. >> sugar production causes damage to the environment. one woman has moved to the countryside to help locals

learn better methods of sugarcane farming. >> audrey s-darko would never have guessed that one day her work clothes would look like this. she grew up in ghana's capital, accra, and studied business administration. now, she lives and works in the countryside. >> good morning! how are you doing? it's been an amazing journey, but one that has been a rollercoaster as well. and our journey started about 4 years ago when i came here as a researcher and also as a tourist just in the hopes of finding more about what sugarcane is all about what are the benefits of it for communities in ghana. >> sugarcane is a major crop in the southeastern volta region. and it's here that audrey s-darko has set up a small production facility for organic fertilizer. atmo: it's okay >> the chief component is sugarcane waste,

which accumulates in great quantities during harvesting. farmers often don't know what to do with it. first the waste is dried, then charred and processed into fertilizer. >> the name of the product is sabon terra, and that means to make the earth new again. and here in tosukpo our goals are to empower farmers to grow food organically and also improve their soil health using a more accessible and available organic soil blend or input doing farming. >> workshops are held at the small model farm next door. 30 farmers belong to the network. here, they learn all about sustainable farming: not just growing organic vegetables, but also that healthy soil is good for the climate because it stores carbon.

>> instead of burning sugarcane waste on the farm we decided to use it as organic blend, which helps to improve the soil fertility. with this aspect i believe that i as farmer have a middle role to play, which is fighting climate change. this is our main focus. >> it's mainly farmers with just a few hectares of land who cultivate sugarcane in ghana. they sell the product at local markets. it's often used to make sweetener and alcohol. 40 years ago, sugarcane production was still an important industry in ghana. but all of the bigger factories have since closed down. one of the principal reasons was mismanagement. audrey s-darko wanted to find out more about it. she specialized in agricultural sciences and decided to go talk to farmers directly.

>> i realized that the culture was different. they had been used to conventional agriculture making use of a lot of chemicals, and how to plant and how they prepared their land. >> burning crop residue in the fields is also a common practice despite people here feeling the effects of climate change at first hand. there's been a change in the amount of rainfall, and harvests are diminishing. the fires put a big strain on the already severely depleted soil. >> nature is supposed to work with us, to better life. but see as humans degrading it on a daily by burning it by destroying biodiversity and engaging in bad practices that put the fauna and the in extinction is just frustrating for me, because we should be appreciate what nature gives us. >> this community is located directly on the avu lagoon, an

important wetland. the canals are used to transport the harvest. and growing the sugarcane itself requires a lot of water. it's an area rich in biodiversity. but the e of chemicals in rming is daging the environment. and there are fewer and fewer fish. philip tamakloe and his father are noticing it too. they own around five hectares of land and have a big family to support. all the more reason for them to rethink things. >> my fear is that if we continue applying chemicals on our farmlands, our children will suffer, and they will find it difficult to cultivate sugarcane in the future. >> audrey s-darko occasionally takes a break from the

countryside for a trip to accra. in ghana's cities, urban farming is a new trend hastened by the pandemic. audrey knows paulina from her university days. the software developer is one of 150 or so city-dwellers who have their organic fertilizer delivered to their door. >> i plugged some seed and prepared some okra stew with that. i plugged about 15 or so of them and prepared stew with that and i had that feeling that ok, i am eating something i planted. it was that good. >> the countryside might be a world away from the city, but audrey s-darko enjoys her new rural life. she's the only member of her team to work full-time for the project, which she founded in 2018 together with other students from the university of accra. they also developed the fertilizer in the university lab. she wants many more farmers to become aware of its benefits.

>> it would transform their mindsets about seeing waste as a resource and giving them more knowledge and more urgent seal to pass this information to their children and grandchildren. >> audrey s-darko knows how to get her point across and has gained the respect of the farmers. now she just needs to find financial backers in order for the sabon sake project to flourish to its full potential. >> staying in africa, we go now to tunisia, where fishermen are in troubled waters. according to an eu study, the mediterranean sea has seen fish stocks drop by a third over the last 50 years. the vast majority of native species are now threatened by overfishing. >> visitors entering the town of zarzis will notice a work of

art that looks more like wishful thinking than the reality on the ground. precious few fishers in tunisia bring in a decent catch these days. ma simply abandon their reality boats. ground. pd young people are leaving.sia >> looking at the current situation, i have to say that there is no future in fishing. i can only tell young people to consider a different line of work. training to be a fisher these days is a waste of time. you can't make a living. >> biologists from the national institute of marine sciences and technology in sfax are looking for reasons behind the dwindling fish stocks. the prime suspect: toxic algae, which repeatedly turn the seawater red. climate change, higher water temperatures and rising phosphorus and nitrogen levels provide a perfect environment for the algae to flourish. native species such as sea bream suffocate and are dying

off in huge numbers. >> we discovered that a toxic species of algae is responsible for this phenomenon in 2019, there was a very high concentration of the algae species called karenia brevis no. -- now. in 2020 its stocks were slightly lower, but this year they've increased again, especially in the area around the port of gabeès. >> to make ends meet, fishers frequently resort to illegal methods, such as catching fish that are actually too young and small to sell like this swordfish. at the fish market in sfax you'll also find cartilaginous fish like rays and sharks, which are in fact endangered

and protected species. >> there are more and more sharks on the market. in the past, there was little demand for cartilaginous fish, but in the meantime people here in sfax have become accustomed to them. and demand is especially high among younger people. >> bechir saidi and nidhal trabelsi are trying to reverse the trend. they want fishers to stop catching sharks and other endangered species. they're rt of projt med bycatch, whichas launche2 years ago and began with extensive data collection. >> we've collected a lot of data. we plan to use that information to make proposals on how to reduce unwanted bycatch that harms endangered species for all of tunisia.

>> nidhal trabelsi has developed a good relationship with the fishing community in the port of zarzis. he tells them about the research results and pvides insights into the concept of closed season. when the different species lay their eggs and canned to be fished. -- cannot be fished. the evaluation of the samples makes it clear that fishing in the mediterranean must become more sustainable. one solution would be using different fishing methods. trawling can be replaced by longlining, which involves long plastic lines with sardine-baited hooks attached at around 6 meter-intervals. med bycatch plans to recommend this type of fishing. >> with longline and hook-and-line fishing, the fish have the choice. the fish that go for the bait, get caught. the others don't. it's completely different to

trawling, which basically catches everything in the sea. >> lassad ben chouikha is an advocate of the longline method, but today he can't go fishing. the wind is too strong and the waves too big. conditions are simply too dangerous. so he heads back to the harbor. preserving the ecosystem in the mediterranean will also require more fishermen like lassad ben chouikha to switch to alternative methods. and not only in zarzis, but across tunisia and along the coasts of other countries bordering the mediterranean sea. >> that's all from us at global 3000 this week! thanks for watching. don't forget to send us your

feedback we love hearing from you. write to global3000@dw.com. and check us out on facebook too dw global ideas. see you next week! take care!

a new attempt to evacuate civilians in ukraine. one busload has been taken from the deceased factory and taken to territory controlled by the russian military. after a barrage of criticism for not sending heavy weapons to ukraine, germany announces it will