09/09/2020

Dubbed 'China's Greta Thunberg', Howey Ou Is Fighting For Climate Action In A Country Where Few Others Will

SBS - Rashida Yosufzai

For Howey Ou, described by some as the “Chinese Greta Thunberg”, raising awareness about climate change is a lonely challenge. But, as the 17-year-old tells SBS News, she's not ready to stop fighting.

Source: Instagram

 A teenager is interrogated for hours by police in China. Her metadata is searched. Later, she’s kicked out of school. Her parents are worried for her safety, so she leaves home.

But Howey Ou isn’t a spy or a criminal. She’s a climate change activist - and despite these challenges, she isn’t afraid to keep on protesting and raising awareness about a problem she feels most of her compatriots are apathetic about.

Howey, now 17, says attitudes in her country on climate change are “not up to date”, and there’s seldom any discussion on the news or at an official level.

“The country isn’t really treating this as a crisis,” she told SBS News.

When she was arrested in May 2019, Howey was on day seven of a protest outside a government building in her native Guilin, trying to warn people about climate change.

Police took her to a station before moving her to a different location. When she got here, she saw her parents were already being questioned.

Howey Ou outside the Guilin People’s Government building in May 2019. Twitter

Police interrogated Howey for three hours and searched her metadata. They asked her who she met, who she talked to during the protest, and whether she’d spoken to any foreigners.

She said the police later had dinner with her parents to “try and have good relations” with them.

In the fallout following her arrest, Howey’s parents confiscated her electronic devices and grounded her out of concern for her safety.

“I left home after that,” she said.

Greta’s influence

Howey is from the southern Chinese city of Guilin, which is known for its lush green hills, blue lakes and boasts some of world's most beautiful karst landscapes.

That may have influenced why she's always had a love for the environment and nature.

But it wasn’t until two years ago when she saw the climate change documentary An Inconvenient Truth that the threat of climate change became front and centre in her mind.

She was also inspired by a young Swedish girl who, at the time, was taking on the world with her message to reduce global emissions.

If Greta Thunberg could do it, so can I, Howey thought.

So, she went to see if there was a Chinese chapter of School Strike For Climate, the youth activist movement inspired by Ms Thunberg.

Howey Ou was rejected from her school for her activism. Twitter

To her shock, there wasn’t. So, like Ms Thunberg did during her first climate strikes, Howey decided to go it alone.

That's how she finds herself standing on busy streets every Friday holding up signs warning passers-by about the urgency of climate change action.

Usually she'll stand there for about three hours but some days it's six.

And while sometimes she'll have a friend with her, she's often alone.

Only a handful of people ever stop to ask her what she's doing, even though, she said, hundreds or even thousands of people will walk by ignoring her.

"Some glare and stop to see what happens, sometimes [they'll] ask [what I'm doing], but mostly I explain to them this is for social goods and environment (sic), so they understand," she said.

On rare occasions people ask for photos or encourage her from afar. Then there are those who think she's being unpatriotic.

"Some will think this is against [the] country, with some inconvenience and hate," she added.

Howey and Ms Thunberg haven't met in person, but the Swede has described her Chinese counterpart as a “true hero”.

'China needs more climate activists'

In May this year, Howey applied for school but was rejected.

“The principal … told me that if I continue (climate activism) then they will not accept me,” she said.

She is still hoping to go to university and take online courses. But her parents worry.

“They still think I should go back to school and study and to do this (activism) when I’m older,” Howey said.

“But I don’t agree with that."










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A post shared by Howey Ou (@howey_ou) on
“China doesn’t need one more climate scientist … it needs more and more climate activists to [stress] this issue to the government.

“The [climate] emergency is getting more and more serious.”

There have been recent warnings China, the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases, is facing an increased risk of flooding amid rising temperatures.

The most recent floods in July across central and southern China killed at least 210 people.

“By the end of the current century, China is projected to be affected the most by flooding, with 40 million people affected and 110 billion Euros of damage per year,” a research paper by the Lancet revealed.

For now, Howey wants to raise awareness through non-violent, civil disobedience – in a country where such actions could get her into trouble with authorities.

“It is the only way to work in this kind of situation,” she said.

“Throughout history we know that this is [an] efficient way to make social change. We are aware of the possible risk and we will take the risk tenuously.

“If we don’t do this, we will face social collapse and mass starvation.”

'The system is still running as usual'

Howey has more than ten thousand followers on social media, but has struggled to find wider support within China.

Grassroots social movements can be heavily suppressed by the government, and the climate change movement there is lacking in participants.

Last year, Howey travelled solo around the country on a shoestring budget, meeting with environmental organisations and activists. But she said many had little understanding of the climate crisis.

And last October, she faced criticism from millions online when a German media interview with her went viral on Chinese social media.

Many accused her of attention-seeking and "armchair activism", while others made unflattering comparisons to Ms Thunberg, who is herself a frequent object of ridicule on the Chinese internet.

When she’s asked if she’s worried for her safety, Howey replies: “I’m afraid that the world is in a very dangerous situation. The change is still nowhere in sight and all the people and the system is still running as usual. There is nothing happening in the world. And I’m worried about that.

“We need to use the science to let people know what is going on… inspire them and to protect them by our own sacrificing (sic).

“When they see protesters don’t fear anything, to like, sacrifice themselves for a better world, or a livable world, they will feel really important [and] respect the protesters”.

Additional reporting by AFP.

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(USA) 'This Is Crazy.' A Record 2 Million Acres Of California Has Burned This Year With Heat Conditions Predicted To Continue

TIME - Jasmine Aguilera

A firefighter fights against the Creek Fire which started Friday afternoon, blew up and grew to 73,278 acres on September 06, 2020, in Shaver Lake, Fresno County, California, United States. Photo by Neal Waters/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

More than 2 million acres of land have been burned by wildfires in California as of Monday, according to state fire agency Cal Fire, surpassing the all-time record of 1.9 million set in 2018.

Cal Fire and climate scientists predict that the number of acres burned this year will continue to grow with upcoming weather conditions, including continued heat and offshore winds.

“This is crazy. We haven’t even got into the October and November fire season and we’ve broken the all-time record,” Cal Fire Capt. Richard Cordova told CNN on Sunday.

A Monday statement by Cal Fire said it and fire departments across the state remain prepared for potentially more significant wildfires due to critical fire weather.

In a Friday tweet, climate scientist Daniel Swain of the University of California, Los Angeles, and the National Center for Atmospheric Research, predicted Monday’s new record. He tells TIME the prediction was not very impressive “since we were 95% of the way there on Friday.”



The state is experiencing another wave of record-breaking heat this weekend, and offshore winds beginning around this time of year—the Santa Anna winds in the south, and the Diablo winds in the north—are expected to spread fires further towards the coast of California, according to Swain, where most people live.

“All indications are that this fire season is going to continue to be worse than average,” Swain says.

With the large number of fires burning already, stretching firefighting resources, and the combination of a heat wave and offshore winds, “you don’t even need new ignitions, new sparks,” Swain adds. “These winds will push those fires in places where we don’t want them to go, close to where people live.”

On late Sunday, Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency in five California counties, including Fresno, Madera, Mariposa, San Bernardino and San Diego counties. The largest un-contained fire, known as the Creek Fire near Fresno, Calif., has burned more than 78,000 acres as of Monday, according to Cal Fire.

Climate change has worsened fire conditions in the state, primarily by effecting the dryness of vegetation, Swain says.

One thing worth noting, Swain adds, is that huge numbers of acres burning isn’t inherently bad. “The problem is that the kinds of fires we’re seeing specifically right now are mostly bad fires because they’re occurring in close proximity to where people live,” he says.

Historically, the state of California has tried to completely suppress fires, creating unnaturally dense forests that then become susceptible to more extreme weather events caused by climate change.

“The growing concensus among climate scientists is that more fire on the landscape is inevitable in the 21st Century,” Swain says. “What we want to do is decrease the number of acres that are burning at an extremely high intensity and the ones that threaten people’s homes and lives…And the way to do that might actually be to allow more of the other kinds of good fire on the landscape.”

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(USA) California Wildfires Illustrate The Consequences Of Climate Change

PBS NewsHour - Amna Nawaz

 A record heat wave is scorching California, where about two dozen wildfires are currently burning.

Nearly 15,000 firefighters are battling steep terrain and extremely dry conditions as they struggle to control the raging infernos.

On Sunday, temperatures in Los Angeles County reached 121 degrees.

Amna Nawaz reports and talks to Leah Stokes of the University of California, Santa Barbara.


  • Amna Nawaz:

    California tonight is home to a record-shattering heat wave and about two dozen wildfires currently burning across the state.

    Nearly 15,000 firefighters are battling steep terrain and tinder-dry conditions, as they fight to control the raging infernos. This afternoon, the U.S. Forest Service announced it will temporarily close national forests in the southern and central regions of the state because of the fire risk.

    More than two million acres already scorched this year in California, record-breaking swathes of land burning under record-breaking temperatures. Governor Gavin Newsom last night declared a state of emergency in five counties, as some 20 fire conglomerates smolder across the state.

    The largest fire alone, Fresno's Creek Fire, has burned over 73,000 acres. A caravan of Labor Day weekend campers were surrounded by flames, and forced to flee to a nearby lake.

    Sisters Katelynn and McKenzie Meek escaped the fire's path.


  • Katelynn Meek:
    One minute you're just sitting in that camp, and, the next, you're driving through flames to save everything.


  • Amna Nawaz:

    Backpacker Juliana Park documented her drive out of Sierra National Forest, the road lined with flames.

    Rescue teams deployed to Fresno have already airlifted out more than 200 trapped campers.


  • David Hall:

    The crews were absolutely ecstatic when they came off the helicopters.


  • Amna Nawaz:

    Colonel David Hall of the California Army National Guard.


  • David Hall:

    All of the individuals that they rescued were greeting the crew members with hugs as they were boarding onto the helicopter, and then, again, after getting off the helicopter, a lot of high-fives.


  • Amna Nawaz:

    Several fires still burn completely uncontained, and state excessive heat warnings are in effect until tonight. Officials warn, the worst may be yet to come.

    Temperatures in Los Angeles County reached a record high of 121 degrees yesterday. While it's cooler there today, temperatures inland are expected to top 100.

    For a closer look at what's behind that heat wave and what's fueling these fires, I'm joined by Leah Stokes, she's a professor and researcher on climate, energy and political policy at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She joins us this holiday from Ontario, Canada.

    Leah Stokes, welcome to the "NewsHour."

    Let's start with that warning. Why is it that authorities believe that this fire season could get even worse soon?


  • Leah Stokes:

    Well, unfortunately, climate change is happening right now in California.

    And we have been lengthening the fire season quite considerably as we warm up the planet.

    In California, our fire season is now two-and-a-half months longer than it used to be, which means that people are at risk all the time. And, as you mentioned, we're seeing record heat waves, not just in Los Angeles County, but also in Santa Barbara County, San Luis Obispo County. And all that heat is really increasing risk for fires.


  • Amna Nawaz:

    Now, you mentioned climate change, of course.

    How do we know that that connection is there? Because we should mention, some of the activities that spark the fires are in fact just related to human behavior. There was one fire started by a gender reveal party, in which someone used a smoke machine that sparked a fire.

    So, explain that connection to us.


  • Leah Stokes:

    Yes.

    It is true, of course, that we make decisions in our daily lives, such as the people who decided to have that gender reveal party. But it becomes so much more risky to actually have that spark light a fire under climate change.

    So, we know, because of research from scientists, that we have 500 percent more risk for wildfires during this climate changed world than we would have before. And that's because it's really hot and dry, because we have had droughts.

    And, of course, that drought, which is caused by climate change, has led to a lot of vegetation dying, meaning there's a lot of brush lying around that can easily light up. And a little spark from a gender reveal party or whatever it is can end up being a massive inferno very quickly.

    So, of course, people need to be careful and be held accountable when they light fires. But the fact is, climate change is the real culprit behind what we're seeing right now.


  • Amna Nawaz:

    We should mention, too, California's fire record goes back to 1932, but the 10 biggest fires on record there have all happened after 2000.

    Should we expect that trend to continue?


  • Leah Stokes:

    Unfortunately, we should.

    I have only lived in California for five years, and I have already been evacuated from my home for weeks on end. And what scientists are telling us is that we are entering a period of mega-fires, where the scale of burning is just beyond what we have seen before.

    So, as you mentioned, we're seeing really large fires. And there isn't any reason to believe that that will stop, because we are not taking the climate crisis seriously, and we are not reducing fossil fuel emissions around the world.

    So, California really is the canary in the coal mine here, and we need to be waking up. And just as the bird was dying from coal, we too are dying from burning coal, oil and fossil gas.


  • Amna Nawaz:

    We should mention also we are mid-fire season now.

    Are there steps that residents or local authorities and state authorities can be taking to mitigate damage for the rest of the season and prepare for next year?


  • Leah Stokes:

    Absolutely.

    Our firefighters and our cities are doing the best that they can. They do all kinds of things like suggest that residents make small retrofits to their home that can dramatically reduce fire risk. They do things like create fuel breaks, which sometimes are controversial, for good reason.

    So, people are trying. But the really big solution here is taking on the climate crisis. And that means that we need new leadership, particularly in Washington. We need somebody who actually believes that climate change is real.

    And, unfortunately, we don't have that right now.


  • Amna Nawaz:

    That is Leah Stokes from the University of California, Santa Barbara, joining us tonight. Thank you so much for your time.


  • Leah Stokes:

    Thanks for having me on.


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