{"id":45992,"date":"2022-03-01T10:24:26","date_gmt":"2022-03-01T10:24:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/?p=45992"},"modified":"2022-03-01T10:29:58","modified_gmt":"2022-03-01T10:29:58","slug":"under-attack-the-ukrainian-climate-scientist-fighting-for-survival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2022\/03\/01\/under-attack-the-ukrainian-climate-scientist-fighting-for-survival\/","title":{"rendered":"Under attack: the Ukrainian climate scientist fighting for survival"},"content":{"rendered":"

Svitlana Krakovska had hoped that a major scientific report showing that climate change is causing \u201cincreasingly irreversible losses\u201d to nature and humanity would dominate headlines across the world this week. Not the existential threat her country is facing. <\/strong><\/p>\n

As Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine and explosions of military artillery resonated across the capital Kyiv on Thursday, \u201cwe woke up in a different world,\u201d she told Climate Home News from her flat in the south of the city.<\/p>\n

A senior scientist of applied climatology who introduced climate models to Ukraine, Krakovska was leading an 11-strong delegation in the negotiations to approve the \u201csummary for policymakers\u201d that accompanies the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report on climate impacts.<\/p>\n

This was the first time Ukraine was represented by such a large delegation, allowing experts to bring their regional perspective from Europe\u2019s largest country (aside from Asia-straddling Russia). \u201cBefore, I was alone,” Krakovska said.<\/p>\n

As Russian troops advanced towards the capital, the survival of Ukraine as a sovereign state and the completion of the IPCC report both became critical for Krakovska.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs long as we have internet and no bombs over our head, we will continue to work,\u201d she recalled telling the plenary of the IPCC meeting on Thursday. But the fighting intensified, and when rockets hit the city, the delegation was forced to withdraw from the discussions.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is not possible to make science when you are under attack,\u201d she said. “I’m sad that instead of presenting key findings of this report in Ukraine, we need to fight for the existence of our country.”<\/p>\n

IPCC:<\/strong> Five takeaways from the UN\u2019s 2022 climate impacts report<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

A mother of four, Krakovska was born in Kyiv and has decided to stay in the city with her family.<\/p>\n

A war in Europe in 2022 \u201cis not acceptable\u201d but \u201cwe don\u2019t panic, we stay strong,\u201d she said, visibly moved during a Zoom interview.<\/p>\n

Krakovska says there is \u201ca very direct connection\u201d between climate change and the war. \u201cRussia has a lot of money from fossil fuels and these fossil fuels make this war possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Issues of water scarcity in eastern and southern Ukraine are also likely to have played a role, she said. Access to water supplies in the Russian-occupied Crimea became a major issue<\/a> and led to increased concerns of Russian military threats<\/a> following widespread drought in 2018, 2019 and 2020.<\/p>\n

Krakovska said that 10 of the last 12 years had seen below normal precipitation levels. In 2020, water levels in Ukraine\u2019s rivers and reservoirs hit their lowest levels since record began in 1885<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, where Russian-backed separatist forces have been in conflict with the Ukrainian military since 2014, water woes were exacerbated by shelling and damage to infrastructure<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The IPCC report published Monday states that droughts induced by higher levels of global warming, \u201cby increasing vulnerability, will increasingly affect violent intrastate conflict\u201d.<\/p>\n

For Krakovska, Russia’s war on Ukraine shows this can become a cross-border issue.<\/p>\n

Revealed:<\/strong> How rich and at-risk nations fought over science of climate impacts<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Krakovska knows Russia well. She was born under the Soviet Union, studied meteorology in Saint Petersburg and went on several expeditions to study cloud modelling across Russia.<\/p>\n

She joined the Ukrainian Hydrometeorological Institute, where she now heads the applied climatology laboratory, in September 1991, days after Ukraine\u2019s declared its independence from the Soviet Union.<\/p>\n

Krakovska first experienced signs of climate change on a trip to the Arctic in October 1991, when mild temperatures meant that the sea still hadn\u2019t frozen as was usual for the time of year.<\/p>\n

In the late 1990s, she was one of the first Ukrainian women to travel to Antarctica on a scientific expedition.<\/p>\n

A visit to the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology in Hamburg, Germany, took her research in a new direction. There, she met with a group of scientists working on regional climate modelling.<\/p>\n

She soon started to work on projections for Ukraine, which have since been used to plan adaptation measures across the country.<\/p>\n

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Svitlana Krakovska at the Ukrainian Akademik Vernadsky station on Galindez Island in 1997 (Photo: Svitlana Krakovska )<\/p><\/div>\n

Since the invasion started, Krakovska has received dozens of messages of support from the scientific community across the world.<\/p>\n

Russian delegate Oleg Anisimov apologised<\/a> for his country\u2019s invasion of Ukraine during the IPCC approval session\u2019s closing plenary on Sunday – at risk of incurring the wrath of his government.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe courage of the delegation of Ukraine, which continued to contribute to our deliberations [on Thursday] is remarkable. Science has no borders,\u201d tweeted<\/a> Climatologist Jean-Pascal van Ypersele, of the Belgian delegation.<\/p>\n

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