Twelve-year-old Sami lives with his grandfather in their village on the Bay of Bengal in India. Due to the rising sea level, they once again have to move their home further inland. Each season sees them having to work harder to catch fewer fish, further out into the ocean. Sami has no idea why this is. If they don't catch fish, they cannot eat. The next day Sami and his grandfather land a huge catch of fish.
When they come to shore, they find there are new people from Myanmar in the village. Grandpa gives away some fish for these starving people to eat. But they also see that someone has stolen their home while they were away. While talking to the people, a deadly storm strikes. They take the family who tried to steal their home to the safety of higher ground.
A mudslide following the heavy rains destroys the village and Sami's home. They work together with the new people to clear away the mud and rebuild. Sami finds an old shirt that reminds him of his father and the loss of his parents, and his mother's lucky knife. Against his grandpa's wishes, Sami sneaks out in the canoe to see if he can find the knife on the ocean floor. But his determination to find the knife places him in danger as another storm approaches. Can he make it safely back to shore before disaster strikes?
Fourteen-year-old Yuki lives in a town in northern Canada, inside the Arctic circle. Global warming has changed bear behaviour in the far north. Polar bears and grizzly bears are interbreeding, creating a new bear, called grolars who do not have the skills to hunt on ice or catch salmon in the rivers. Yuki wants to do something about this. Lately, there have been more bears in town looking for food. Yuki believes these bears are grolars and not polar bears. With her mother at work, she doesn't go to school but decides to see if she can find out.
Discussion
In this graphic novel, Colfer and Donkin tackle the topic of global warming and climate change. To accomplish this, they present two stories, one set in Canada's high Arctic and the second in India's Bay of Bengal. In these stories, both characters, Yuki in the High Arctic and Sami in the Bay of Bengal relate how their villages have experienced drastic changes due to climate change.
For Yuki it's the presence of hungry bears in town, bears she believes are grolars - a cross between polar bears and grizzly bears. Yuiki notes that these bears are starving because they do not have the hunting skills to feed themselves. Global seems to suggest that this hybridization is the result of climate change, but in fact hybridization has occurred in the past but generally doesn't persist. In other words, it is an ongoing behaviour between the brown bear and polar bear populations in the Arctic, but tends to be temporary. It therefore, is not necessarily the result of climate change. Dr. Evan Richardson, a polar bear research biologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada states that polar bears evolved from brown bears to live in the far north and notes that hybridization has occurred before. According to a recent article by Richardson (2021) there hasn't been a grolar or pizzly observed since 2014.
What has changed however is the number of polar bears sighted in towns like Churchill, Manitoba, as they forage for food. The change is due to the changes in the way sea ice is forming and melting in Hudson Bay, possibly as a result of climate change in the high Arctic. Ice is forming earlier in the late fall, allowing for bears to cross over to Churchill on their way to their winter hunting of seals on the ice in Hudson Bay.
Yuki's story does focus on the impact of melting Arctic ice and how this creates problems for bears who need the ice to hunt seals in the winter and early spring. If the ice melts too quickly, it is much more difficult for polar bears to capture the fat-rich seals they require to replenish their bodies after or before hibernation. The warming climate has affected the permafrost as well, leading to the abandonment of roads and the release of methane.
For Sami, increased storms and rising sea levels are directly impacting his entire village, meaning that homes are being lost to the sea. Sami has lost his parents during a storm and is now living with his elderly grandpa, trying to earn a living by fishing. The storms are also impacting the fish populations, driving them further from the shore. Sami and his grandpa note that there are fewer fish and they must travel further out to sea to fish. There is no mention of the impact of over-fishing by the coastal population or large scale fisheries in the bay.
Research has shown that the sea level in the Bay of Bengal has been slowly rising over the last few decades and could significantly rise in the future. This rise is due partly to tectonic subsidence as well as to hydrological effects (for example, excessive rainfall, glacial meltwater due to climate change) . This rise in sea level affects the mangrove forest which is located along the Bay of Bengal and which protects the shoreline from the storms. The rise in sea level also means a loss of land to those living on the shores, forcing them inland and changing the dynamics of families and communities. Colfer and Donkin describe many of these impacts through Sami's story. Sami and his grandpa are often forced to move their home inland. Their impact of their displacement is shown when a mudslide after a storm destroys the village. They work for five days to reclaim the land, rebuild and then repair their nets.
Global offers young readers a somewhat simple overview of the issue of global warming and climate change while telling an exciting and engaging story. It shows how rising sea levels can directly impact many different communities around the world. The focus on this graphic novel is of two communities especially at risk, highlighting the human impact as well as the environmental changes. A map at the back shows the locations of Yuki and Sami, demonstrating that the topic is a "global" issue - hence the title. The beautiful illustrations were created by ink on paper with digital colouring from Photoshop and really enhance the story telling.
The authors have included a short graphic note at the back titled What is Global Warming? While this covers the basics of global warming, the solutions offered, such as moving from fossil fuels to renewable energy are controversial and by no means the definitive answer. It's unlikely that we can power modern society entirely by renewable energy options. Most of the materials we take for granted such as items used in medicine, in construction, agriculture, computers, transportation and other sectors, rely heavily on fossil fuel production. Modern life has come about because of the use of petroleum products. These cannot be easily and quickly replaced. And some forms of renewable energy, such as the production of EV batteries rely heavily on the use to very toxic heavy and rare earth metals.
While it is evident our climate is different from the climate decades ago, this may also be a natural part of Earth's history, with fluctuations between periods of colder climate and warmer climate. Humans are a part of a much larger system. We need to focus on better, sustainable stewardship of our beautiful planet. Still, Global offers a starting point for young readers to consider the issue, to see the human impact, especially on children and to consider potential solutions to the climate change we are currently experiencing.
Overall, Global is another great effort by this author duo!
Book Details:
Global by Eoin Colfer and Andrew Donkin
Naperville, Illinois: Sourcebooks Young Readers 2023
