Greetings from The Gambia And from everyone at New Yundum Lower Basic School

The rainy season has just come to an end and it will not rain again until April. We are learning about the weather in Environmental Studies and the effects of global warming.

Here is the weather forecast for this coming week. Although like you our winter is just beginning, because we are only 900 miles north of the equator it is still hot here. Also the length of our days does not change much with the sun rising about 6.45 am and setting at 7.15 pm

It has not been the best rainy season as it did not rain too much in August and September. The farmers up river, who grow rice, are not happy. The weather is changing. In East Africa, in countries like Somalia, it has not rained for two years!

We need rain to grow food and less rain will lead to food shortages. But one thing that does grow well here without too much rain is peanuts. They have just been harvested and a lady comes to our school to sell them. Do you eat peanuts?

The weather is changing is due to the “green house” effect. A build up of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) means the sun’s rays and warmth get trapped around the earth and makes it warmer – like in a greenhouse.

Global warming may mean we get less rain here in The Gambia and struggle to grow enough food. It may also mean the ice at the north and south pole melts and the sea level rises. That really worries us because the Gambia is a very flat country just above sea level. And if the sea level rises just 5 metres much of The Gambia would be under water including our capital Banjul !

We did an experiment to show how the Green house effect works. We put some ice cubes into two transparent plastic cups. We put one cup into a transparent plastic bag and put them both out into the sun. Can you guess what happened?

The ice in the plastic bag melted quickest and so the water level rose more quickly too. Just Like the CO2 Green House effect is doing with the ice at the North and South Poles causing sea levels to rise. Do you know what puts CO2 into the atmosphere to cause the Green House effect?

Well one thing is burning fossil fuels like wood, coal and petrol. We burn a lot of wood in the Gambia to cook and our forests are disappearing. We are even asked to bring wood to school for use in the school kitchen.

We now understand we need to start planting trees to absorb the CO2. We also need to stop burning wood. And we are starting to do this. Can you see the windmill in the picture? It is used to generate electricity.

We all need to do our bit to help save the planet And we would like you to think how you could help.