Getting world leaders to recognize the incremental, often subtle effects of global warming has challenged environmental leaders for decades, but Frank Huber doesn’t have to look far to see evidence that his climate, at least, is changing. The chief architect of Zugspitze’s ski slopes, Huber has worked with a steadily shrinking glacier and an ever-decreasing amount of snow for decades, and to him, the trend is unmistakable.
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Frank Huber
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“Global warming is here. I’m sure of it,” said the 20-year veteran of Germany’s highest mountain. “Every year, ice is melting away. We can’t hold it up. I think we have to live with it.”
But that doesn’t mean giving up. Every summer, Huber and his crew labor to cover some 12,000 square meters of Zugspitze’s glacier with plastic tarps. The coverings reflect the sun’s heat, thereby slowing the glacier’s recession.
Similarly, Germany’s government is also acting to combat climate change. Passing an energy tax to finance the production of solar photovoltaics and approving a cap-and-trade system of reducing emissions, the nation has taken steps towards reducing its carbon footprint that other G-8 nations like the United States have so far refused to match. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has lobbied hard for greater American action, though to date many Germans consider U.S. President George W. Bush’s response to be no more thoughtful or appropriate than the president’s famous backrub to the chancellor.
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Dr. Ludwig Ries
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“Maybe this shows a little bit of the German character. We are trying to do something,” said Dr. Ludwig Ries of the Federal Environment Agency. “There are a considerable number of people in Germany who are aware the environment is warming. They are aware of the world we are giving back to our children. They are also aware we live in a way that we can’t continue to live. Germany is one of the biggest producers of carbon dioxide in Europe.”
Germany and America’s varying responses to global warming and the issue’s effect on the nations’ relations were the focus of my work during my 2007 trip to Germany supported by an Arthur F. Burns Fellowship alumni research stipend. The grant permitted me to visit southern Germany where sources told me about the climate changes they’ve witnessed in their lifetimes and their thoughts about the nations’ reaction to the situation.
Also helpful were a number of other Burns alumni who helped me make contacts in such institutions as the German Embassy, the State Department, the Öko Institut in Freiburg, and the Technical University Bergakademie Freiberg.
The sources and material I collected enabled me to write about the issue for a 2008 edition of German Life magazine. The project has also positioned me to report in the future on a topic that will surely carry headlines for many years. I also gathered information to write travel and feature stories for submission to National Geographic Adventure, The Contra Costa Times, Adventure Sports Journal and other publications.
To the International Center for Journalists and the supporters of the Arthur Burns Fellowship, thanks for making this productive and rewarding project possible.
Matt Johanson, a 1995 Arthur Burns fellow, authored the recent book, “Game of My Life: Memorable Stories of Giants Baseball,” described at www.giantsgamesbook.com