The Dutch are famous for their dikes. Hundreds of years ago a decision was made to keep the sea out. It was a remarkable decision because, in a way, it would have been easier to move to a less dangerous place. But the Dutch stayed did it anyway. WHY? Because they knew they could! <\/i><\/p>\n
We are capable of so many things, history has shown that time and again. Now our dikes are threatened by a new phenomenon, no not water, drought! Year after year our summers become dryer. Crops perish and trees all over the Netherlands die. But is this a fluke in the weather or something we need to deal with? I don’t think so. It looks like our climate is drastically changing and we drastically need to do something about it. Because if we\u00a0don’t we’ll end up below sea level! Now you might say that changing weather patterns is an impossibility, but that was also said about having land\u00a0under sea level! And the Dutch defied that. Climate change can be dealt with too. Why? BECAUSE WE CAN!<\/i><\/p>\n A 1000 people were invited to learn about climate change and to become involved as Climate Leader. In those 4 days I met engaged people from all over the world. People from rural areas in Africa to doctors from New York City.<\/p>\n One of the things that struck me during Al Gore\u2019s explanation of what climate change is, was the fact that earth will not just heat up of the earth. A misconception many people make.<\/p>\n One of the most significant changes that will occur is that the seasons will dramatically change. Rainfall, for example, will intensify to a sometimes destructive level. And these periods of rain will be short and intense. Periods of droughts will elongate. It will be difficult to manage crops. Areas normally blessed with a steady stream of rain like for example, The Netherlands, will experience more and more drought. Dikes that need soil that is moist to stay strong and resilient will dry up. Making them fragile and prone to fissures.<\/p>\n Al Gore showed us very specifically what the science predicts. All of these weather changes are logical and when you apply basic statistics it is relatively easy to understand how one leads to the other.<\/p>\n As a mental coach I speak to a lot of people, and last year a farmer contacted me. He had a severe burnout and needed some guidance in his recovery. When I asked about how his burnout came about, he told me that he never ever experienced a severe drought like he experienced now. Never before water was rationed in The Netherlands and now it was. He hardly slept, because to save his crop he had to get up every couple of hours with his wife to water the fields. This went on for months till he was so exhausted he could not get up anymore.<\/p>\n This year a similar weather pattern is emerging in the Netherlands. The one thing, the Dutch never anticipated happened, a SHORTAGE OF WATER.<\/p>\nIn 2011 I went to San Francisco to meet AlGore for a 4-day climate Leadership Summit.<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Predicting the future<\/h3>\n