HOST: Honored viewers, welcome to Planet Earth: Our Loving Home. Africa is a continent of diverse beauty and natural resources, but sadly this region is increasingly being affected by global warming.

The once majestic Lake Chad, located south of the Sahara Desert, which spanned ２５,６００ square kilometers in the mid-２０th century is now one-fifteenth its original size.

Severe droughts and serious food shortages are currently being experienced by millions of Africans, creating conflict among peoples. Africa’s average temperature is rising quicker than the global average, with experts projecting that this trend will cause even more devastating droughts, further food insecurity  as well as intense floods and storm surges.

In today’s show, we will speak with a true environmental champion, Mr. Nnimmo Bassey from Nigeria. For his role in helping Nigerians understand and protect their environmental rights,he was named by the US news publication TIME magazine as one of the 『Heroes of the Environment ２００９.』  
Nnimmo Bassey is chair of the highly respected non-profit group Friends of the Earth International, which calls itself the world’s largest grassroots environmental network.

Friends has two million members in ７７ nations. Mr. Bassey is also executive director of Environmental Rights Action, also known as Friends of the Earth Nigeria, an organization that addresses environmental human rights issues in Nigeria.

He will share with us his perspectives on the environmental conditions in Africa and discuss the relationship between migration and unrest and climate change. In our conversation with Mr. Bassey, he emphasized that many of the harsh consequences of global warming that scientists repeatedly warn of are currently being seen on the continent.

For more details on Friends of the Earth International, please visit www.FOEI.org
To learn more about Environmental Rights Action, please visit www.ERAction.org