The winners

Photo competition: Winner is from India

Sudipto is the winner of Deutsche Welle’s “Hot Shots – Your View On Climate Change” photo competition. The winning photo shows two boys jumping into the Ganges in the Indian city of Varanasi from a temple that has been flooded. Second prize was awarded to Loreto Martínez González from Chile and third went to Hermann Hüttler from Brazil. Contest participants were asked to send in photos representing the consequences associated with climate change or the projects designed to fight it.

“According to the IPCC, the sea level around the world will rise at least 40 centimeter by the year 2100 and flood large coastal areas – including many heavily-populated areas,” said Sudipto with his submission. “The inhabitants of these cities will be forced to move inland or build dikes. That will affect several million people in India alone.” Sudipto was chosen as the environmental photographer of the year in 2007 by the “Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management“.

The photo from Loreto Martínez González shows the drought in the Tarapaca region of Chile. González wrote that it has been raining less there over the years, which has lead to a major drought. This has made many farmers and ranchers dig wells and left searching for water sources.

Hermann Hüttler’s photo was taken in Parajuru, Brazil. “For some unknown reason, everything changed for the fishing industry within a week,” said Hüttler about his photo. “The fishermen were greeted with a surprise change virtually overnight – without any warning of storms, higher tides or heavy rainfall. It had become impossible for them to tie up their boats to “park” them overnight because the bank had broken off. They have been using flatboats (Jangadas) for hundreds of years, and now they have to pull them along the beach to somewhere where the water is shallower.”

You can see all the photos on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/climate_eyes/sets/72157623260874622/