♪ host: welcome to "global 3000." as fit as a fiddle, what's loma linda's secret when it comes to longevity? power from the deep, could our oceans satiate our future energy needs? ♪ and, drought in kenya. when it comes to fighting climate change, enter creativity!

no rain for months. kenya is suffering from historic levels of drought. the soils are too dry to cultivate grain or vegetables. cattle lie dead in the arid steppe lands. two million people are at risk of starvation in kenya, says german aid organization welthungerhilfe. to blame, global warming, the over-exploitation of natural resources and widespread deforestation. aid is urgently needed. but so are ideas, ideas for how to make it possible to survive in kenya's dry regions in the future. our reporter tabea mergenthaler went to kenya to find out more. ♪ reporter: the music and festive atmosphere soon attracts a crowd. the safe pwani theater group is performing today in bomani in southern kenya. the play is about everyday hardship, environmental issues and climate change.

it's called "miongo." that means 'decades' in swahili. it sweeps through the last forty years, starting in 1981, when nature here was still intact. but years of deforestation have followed to feed the charcoal industry. what will things look like in future? group manager david kalume takes the audience on a journey. where did we go wrong? he asks. what can we do differently to ensure the next ten years will be better? the story ends in the year 2031. >> just put people under the mirror for them to see that this is exactly what i'm doing. so what can i do? so the idea has been it's just a reflection of their life. so from the reflection, you can understand it's like a mirror. if you have a something that on -- if you have dirt on your face, then it's time for, you know, to try to clear the debt. -- for you to clear the dirt. this is exactly what we're

doing. reporter: safe pwani's activists know people here are faced with existential problems. only three months ago, 40-year-old chaka majaliwa settled in this village, a two-hour drive from mombasa, with his 50 cattle. but now his herd is dying of starvation. he used to live in a village some 35 kilometers away, until drought forced him to leave. but the situation is no better here. >> i have to buy the calves' milk because their mothers have no milk to suckle them. they don't even have the strength to stand up. reporter: they don't have the energy to graze on the field's sparse green. chaka majaliwa has to help them up. today he's assisted by some of david kalume's actors, currently touring the area. >> we're here because we are working on a program on

environment. mostly what we're doing is looking at community resilience towards climate change, as we can see the way the weather patterns are changing, we can see that the climate is not as it was some years back. reporter: for one, the dry season is getting longer. sometimes it doesn't rain for months on end now. the theater group has invited locals to a workshop to talk about their troubles. the team hopes participants can pass on what they learn here to other villages. one of them is 68-year-old kilawa kithome. >> if everyone plants trees, it will be good for the environment. living conditions will be better and that will keep people healthier. reporter: the retired civil servant has planted a range of trees, from casuarinas to blue gum and neem

trees. they provide shade and protect the ground from drying out. he also keeps bees. he has 18 hives, and earns the equivalent of 1,600 dollars a year. that allows him to pay for his daughter's schooling and soon, he hopes, for her university education too. one of his two wives, and the mother of his three sons, kaphiphi kilawa a, had no such luck. >> i did not attend school because my parents were not able to pay for my education. so i decided to get married. reporter: a fate shared by most women round here. poverty is widespread. locals feltrees to clear the land for agriculture, but that makes the ground even drier, so harvests are poor.

they end up resorting to selling charcoal. but that's made from trees, so they're locked in a vicious circle. in the workshops, facilitated by parent ngo safe kenya, the safe pwani team helps locals develop alternatives. >> we believe that it is the people who, first of all, started the problem, and it is the people who can solve their own problem. so to us, it is as just coming to make them realize, this is where we went wrong. and then after there is them not to look at the solutions and how ours is only to facilitate these discussions, facilitate them coming together. that is what we are doing much. but the solution is coming directly from the people. reporter: after two months of consultations and convsations, the theater group's latest tour is drawing to a close now. the safe kenya ngo aims to boost people's resilience am

the climate crisis and inspire them to find solutions. its safe pwani theatre group is based in mombasa and financed by the international climate initiative's 'small grants' program. they'll continue to work with locals here for the next two years. the audience have got the message. >> i have learnt that when we manufacture charcoal, it has many negative effects on our land. >> things will change because there will be no more cutting down of trees and if people get tree seedlings, they will plant them and the current situation will improve. reporter: >> kilawa kithe is also ong the audience. his tree planting has often been mocked by his neighbors.

now he's been vindicated. though in fact he's desperate, since the activists were last here, the drought has killed all his bees and the seedlings for his new plants have dried up. still, he's determined to keep planting new trees and hopes more villagers will follow his lead. it's the only way they can secure their future. ♪ host: water is life. it covers 71 % of our planet's surface, and is in perpetual movement. ocean currents in particular have huge potential as energy generators --as much as a thousand nuclear power stations. tremendous powers are brought forth every day due to the moon. it acts like a magnet, pulling the water of our oceans towards it, creating a wave peak, or high tide. on the other side of the earth, a similar wave peak is created by centrifugal force. over the course of a day, the

earth rotates beneath these two high-tide peaks. in between them is ebb tide. these are the tides of the seas. cad title power be the clean, climate-neutral answer to our energy needs? reporter: off the coast of scotland, you could witness this. wind turbines being put into the water. they're called tidal turbines. they sit on the seafloor, and harness the energy in the moving water that comes in and goes out with the tides. >> tidal power is just sitting there and waiting to be used reporter: the potential is huge. it is estimated that we could practically capture enough tidal energy to power all homes in the united states twice over. >> my research shows we need this energy now. reporter: yet, at the moment, all the energy we get from existing tidal power plants worldwide, can power less than 400,000 homes.

so, how does tidal power work exactly? and why isn't it everywhere yet? ♪ with tidal power, there's one word that comes up a lot: predictable. >> predictable. >> predictability. >> prectable. rerter: des are prictable. ey come , they go t and they've been doing this the same way since the moon was born. stick a turbine in the water as it flows in or out and voila! you can make electricity. with the same principle that wind turbines use. moving water makes the turbine spin, thisowers a gearbox and a generator, which turns mechanical energy into electricity. water, incidentally, is over 800 times denser than air, which means that tidal turbines need to be sturdier but can be smaller d slower a still individually produce more power than wind turbines. so far so good? then back to tidal's trump card, predictability. wind starts and stops blowing somewhat randomly and the sun isn't always out, so these renewables can be difficult to integrate into the grid. tides as we know are really,

really predictable and consistent. so if batteries are charged when tides are flowing, we could use those batteries each time there is no movement, and repeat at regular intervals. with tides, 2 main ways to extract poweexist. one is called called tidal stream, and the other, tidal range. let's talk about tidal range power, that takes advantage of the difference between the high and low tide, which can go up to 12 meters. this works by building a dam across a region where the sea water meets the land. the shape of these bays or estuaries magnifies the difference between the high and low tide. how it actually works is, the gates of the dam are first shut, until the difference in water level builds up to the highest point, and then the water is allowed to flow in. as it does so, a turbine below collects and converts all that delicious energy into electricity. many tidal plants can actually work when the water flows the other way too, which means they

could work for between 18 and 22 hours every day. and this kind of tidal power has been around for decades, the oldest tidal range generator, la rance, was built in northern france in 1966. it cost ound 1 billion dollars, in today's money, which is cheaper than a comparable nuclear power plant, but higher than the cost of installing other renewables. but it is still going strong, producing enough power for a town of around 250,000 inhabitants, and the electricity from la rance is actually cheaper than solar and nuclear. there are 4 other tidal range plants running in south korea, russia, canada and china. >> you can put a tidal range power plant anywhere, but it wouldn't be economical to put it somewhere where there's minimal tidal range. top regions are the bay of fundy in canada. the northwest australian shelf, the northwest european shelf and the patagonian shelf.

but they're not all suitable. so, for example, there may not be much grid connectivity or that populations may be quite low. >> so apart from geography, the infrastructure to support tidal range plants just doesn't exist everywhere. and people have opposed the massive structures because they can be horrific for the local environment, disturbing migratory fish, the composition of the soil, and even taking space away from local communities. but things are changing for tidal range power. a project commissioned in october 2021 in wales takes the idea out of the 1960s and applies it to today, when environmental damage is much less acceptable. the design doesn't block off an entire bay, but only uses a part of a lagoon, so the local ecology is protected. and it's expected to generate even more power than the french plant. the proposal also includes space for aquaculture and sports, so the area can remain

a shared resource. 98% of tidal energy today comes from tidal range projects, that together have a capacity of 520 megawatts which is still, a tiny, tiny fraction of our consumption. but the other kind of tidal power generation could shake things up. the younger and sexier kind on the market: tidal stream power. ♪ it's showing more promi at the moment, with its simpler devices that depend on underwater currents caused by the tides. they varin s. >>he most coon are bree turbes, like wd turbines that can be set up in clusters in wind farms under water. a couple of research and development zones in the north of scotland supplied record-breaking levels of clean energy to the u.k. grid this year, powering over 12,000 homes for a year. then there's an underwater kite that flies in a figure of 8.

like the wind lifts a kite, currents in the water speed it up, in turn producing more energy. and then there are floating stream turbines, the most powerful of which was recently launched in scotland, with an individual turbine capacity of two megawatts. they are tethered to the sea floor, but the turbines remain close to the surface with means the undersea work is cheaper, and they can be moved around. compared to wind or solar energy , though, tidal has been slow for a reason you might have guessed. >> sadly, a lot of the solutions are really expensive. because the industry is so young. supply chain or manufacturing it doesn't hchain. established anytime we are going to operate something underwaterthat has its own unique set of engineering challenges. your standard ones like corrosion is going to be big a problem. you're going to have to choose

your materials really carefully. biofouling is a really big issue where, you know, you put something in the water as things are going to want to grow on it, and that's going to make it into a little mini reef, a little habitat. the performance of the turbine will deteriorate so you need to find someway of preventing that. that is a huge operational cost. >> which is why most tidal stream generation projects cluster in the global north, where financial support and test -- where financial support to test the technology at this stage exists. china and south korea are joining in, but lower-income countries like india have been slow or dropped planto try out tidal power. but the costs of deployment begin to fall. >> the challenge now is to bring down the price tag of it, to make sure that it's something that's commercially viable. and this is where things like sort of investments and government suprt and subsidiecan be extremely impactful. there's a number of proven concepts, and there is a number of companies that have a technology-rdy. >> wle the u. and the canadi governments have been the biggest investors in tidal power, overall, grants and govt investment have been slow, withess than 0.02% of

annual investment in renewables reaching tidal. and so it has been behind the curve in other ways to open. electricity from underwater tidal turbines can cost up to 9 times that produced by turbines above the surface of the water. but the industry targets that lifecycle costs could falter $.10 a kilowatt hour by the end of the decade, which could be pretty cheap. but apart from cost, what actually happens when you put these turbines underwater? oceans are abundant with marine life. the structure of the la rance project from earlier decimated the populations of two fish species. and like wind turbines that have been known to cause the lungs of bats flying past to implode, the pressure difference caused by tidal barrages could have a similar effect on the internal organs of fish. but tidal stream projects are already more eco-friendly.

>> tidal turbines turn quite slowly. so, the ideaf things getting chopped is probably not going to especially at tip speeds.t? the big problem is not probably going to be collision. the problem is going to be displacement, that animals will avoid these areas and therefore not use these areas to feed in. we've compared it to climate change, and even by 2050, what you see is climate change is 10 times worse than taking the maximum amount out of tis. >> tidal has other benefits too, while its financial cost is still higher than other renewables, its net benefit could actually be higher, when you consider things like its predictable supply of clean energy to the grid, or the fact that stream projects don't visually affect a beautiful sea view. so especially in coastal or island nations, tidal does have the power to play a significant

role in gettinto net zero, in a relatively less disruptive way. the need of the hour is to make tidal power competitive. >> we need to understand such natural forces, and live in harmony with nature. that's one key way to solve the huge global problems facing us. and for us to live healthy, contented lives. despite worsening global crises, more and more people are living ever-longer lives. according to the u.n., there have never been so many hundred year olds. there are now more than half a million centenarians worldwide. 5 so-called “blue zones,” okinawa in japan, ikaria in greece, ogliastra on sardinia, costa rica's nicoya peninsula, and loma linda in california all have very high numbers of people living far longer than average. what's their secret?

meet jane pihl, 103. james ho, 82. and christine ho, 85. they're old, and they're in great shape. in loma linda, southern california, that's not unusual. ♪ [singing] >> jane pihl swears by a healthy diet. she's never smoked, and she's been teetotal all her life. >> people are killing themselves with their eating habits. their lifestyle is killing them. >> she's a member of the seventh-day adventist church, a protestant denomination. its members believe in clean living and advocate vegetarianism. >> this health message is not a religion. it's like, they call it a right hand help, because a lot of

people won't listen to religion, but they'll listen to health. >> jane pihl's late husband was a doctor. everyone in her community makes sure they drink a lot of water and exercise every day. they also believe in a day of rest. this community began in the early 20th century when adventist pioneers opened a sanatorium here. it became the loma linda university medical center. the church's healthy lifestyle seems to add years to its members' lives. the loma linda community is the core of america's "blue zone," where people live much longer than the rest of the world. there's a city-wide smoking ban. ♪ >> cardiologist gary fraser has investigated the seventh day adventists' longevity in a longterm study. >> we found that it's pushed ahead as compared to other californians in men about seven years, in women about 4.5,

which is a big deal. that is the kind of gains that a whole population might make in a generation or two generations. >> christine ho hits the pool to swims laps every morning. a former nurse, she's believes that exercise keeps her young and healthy. she likes to crawl a few lengths then switch to backstroke. [chatter] >> i like backstroke because you can, you know, breathe better. and when i do backstroke, i see the sky, sometimes the skyclouds have different animal or formations, you know, i enjoy looking at that. >> her husband james ho plays badminton regularly, always against a younger opponent. not all the residents of loma linda are elderly. it's a multi-generational place. james ho used to coach the son of his badminton partner, who's

30 years younger than him. >> it makes me active. it makes me go more for it instead of relaxing. the young people they move so, it makes me also want to move with them. >> at home, the walls are decorated with james ho's many medals. now 82, he still takes part in competitions in the senior category, and usually wins. >> but the couple also feel that a long and fulfilling life is about learning to savor the moment. >> both of us, we retired really early, 55. take it easy. just enough money to live on and see the world and enjoy. >> i keep the sabbath, i go to church and sing. ok? volunteer. they don't pay me, but i volunteer to help. that makes me happy because i can share my talents with people. ♪ [singing]

>> voluntary work appears to be another secret to a long and happy life. as is the sabbath, the day of rest and worship. >> everyone here follows the church's rules, and adheres to its wholesome doctrine. most americans have a notably shorter life expectancy than many europeans and are more likely to suffer from high blood pressure and diabetes. [praying] >> cardiologist gary fraser thinks loma linda could serve as a role model for the rest of the country, religion aside. >> there's no major elixir or pill that they swallow or something like this. it's rather that they have taken many things that we know and they have actually put them

into practice as a whole group. ♪ reporter: jane pihl takes an hour-long walk every day, even in the blazing sun. she's convinced a few of her neighbors to join her. >> take pictures of me walking. >> good job! >> well, i have changed my diet. i've lost some weight. i walk more. she's a good person. ♪ >> jane pihl's advice is simple. >> just do what nature, what god intended us to do. he didn't intend for us to just swallow pills and sit around and watch tv. get out in nature, get out and enjoy life. good grief! ♪ >> she doesn't understand why some people find that so hard. surely everyone wants to lead a long, happy and healthy life. ♪ host: that's all from us this week on "global 3000!" don't forget to send end us

your feedback. write to global3000@dw.com. and we'd love to have you visit us on facebook too, dw global ideas. see you next time. take care! ♪

berlin. rockets fired in the middle east after israel launched a series of airstrikes in gaza, killing several and wounding many more. also on the program -- china conducts another day of live fire military exercises in the waters around taiwan as beijing announces an end to cooperation with the united