“Climate change, a world concern”

“Climate change, a world concern”
Over the past several decades, the international and national research communities have developed a progressively clearer picture of how and why Earth’s climate is changing and of the impacts of climate change on a wide range of human and environmental systems.
Climate change has also been considered as the number one lightening causing factor, this is according to new research from the University of California, Berkeley, published on Thursday in the journal Science, found warming conditions would result in 50% more lightning strikes by the end of the century.
Lightning is beautiful yet deadly phenomenon that our world is certainly not short of. As you read that sentence, around 200 bolts of lightning struck the ground across the Earth. With around 100 strikes per second, lightning bolts streak through the sky and hit the ground somewhere on our planet around 8 million times per day. But according to a new study, that number could be set to dramatically increase if the current rate of global warming continues, at least within the U.S. As reported in the journal Science, we could expect to see a 12% increase in lightning activity for every 1oC (1.8oF) of warming.
Lightning affects European territory on an average of 350 days per year, meaning that there is at least one lightning strike somewhere in Europe every day, but these have also been severely manifested in Switzlands, Italy and France for the past years.
In 2016, lightning storms killed at least one man and injured many others and many more were expected to continue for three more days in central Europe before heading west to Britain, “forecasters warned”
Witnesses said there were “no clouds in the sky” before a summer storm Germany. Injuring 35, including the referee who went into cardiac arrest after being hit directly by lightning.
• A hiker descending a mountain in south-west Poland was killed by a bolt of lightning, while a 61-year-old man in the same region drowned in flash flooding. And in Paris, the same weather system saw a sudden, violent storm appear over a children’s birthday party in a park in the city’s north-west. Eight children and three adults were injured when lightning struck a tree they were sheltering under. ( Adam Withnall @adamwithnall Sunday 29 May 2016 13:22)

Lightening are constantly striking across the country (Uganda) and dozens of people are losing their lives and getting paralyzed from the effects of the strikes. The latest incident was in the northern Uganda district of Alebtong , where three mourners were killed and 15 others injured.
Lightning continued to strike more people and 10 pupils of Muni Primary School in Arua district during were the victims to that day’s heavy downpour. In the same month it struck Kamwenge and Mbarara districts, leaving three dead and several others injured.

Myths and traditional beliefs about lightning.
Because of the violent and sudden way lightening kills, from the ancient times and in some societies today, lightning strikes are shrouded in myths. The early Greeks thought the king of the gods, Zeus, threw thunderbolts down from stormy skies when angered, native American tribes believed the flashing feathers and flapping wings of the mighty Thunderbird caused lightning and in the African traditional setting, many cultures have different names and beliefs pegged to lightning.

Many of these cultures believe lightning usually strikes people who have committed crimes, broken oaths or those who have annoyed the gods. Others peg lightning to witchcraft.

When lightning strikes in Buganda central part of Uganda, people believe that the god of lightning and thunder called Kiwanuka is unhappy with the family of the victims. The affected family members usually visit traditional diviners who are believed to have supernatural powers to communicate with the angry gods. Usually, the family offers a sacrifice of sheep or goats to appease the god, says 55-year-old Deborah Kyeyune

Climate change coupled with the above beliefs and deforestation is putting people more at risk of being struck by lightning.
In the project, partners tend to protect the most vulnerable population from being struck by the lightening in their respective villages and schools.

Goal: Protection of vulnerable school children and communities from disastrous lightening strikes in the partner participating countries.

Objective;
To prevent young people at schools and rural communities from being struck by lightning.
To provide locally made shoes to the village undergoing school children
To train community artisans in simple local shoes production for the purpose of constant supply to the schools.
Creating awareness to communities in breaking the myths around lightning strikes.
N.B we are looking for the Eu organization or a university/any school to develop the idea and we submit this as a capacity building project, but also open to pieces of advice