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How Climate Change Has Altered Christmas
How Climate Change Has Altered Christmas
altered Christmas
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Whether it's decorating the Christmas tree with sparkly lights, building a snowman or
carolling to your heart's content, we all have our favourite holiday traditions.
In the Netherlands, where I grew up, a popular tradition around Christmas is to put
on your skates and take to the country's frozen ponds, canals and rivers. When it
freezes, young and old head onto the ice. As my father says, "Skating is in our
blood."
"You'll see very young children holding onto chairs as they scrabble along, as old
people skate by hand-in-hand," he says, painting a verbal picture of a beautiful
wintery landscape. "It's a truly magical scene."
When my father was at school he regularly enjoyed "ice days", when schools closed
and everyone spent the day skating instead of studying. I only remember one such
exhilarating moment during my teenage years.
The Philippines boasts the earliest and longest Christmas season in the world.
"They say that Filipinos celebrate Christmas the longest," says Mitzi Jonelle Tan, a
22-year-old climate activist from Manila, the capital of the Philippines. "We celebrate
from 1 September until 6 January."
FAMILY TREE
This article is part of Family Tree, a new series of features from the BBC that explore
the issues and opportunities that parents, children and families face all over the world.
You might also be interested in some other stories about children's education and their
emotional development:
You can also climb new branches of the Family Tree on BBC Worklife.
It is a colourful and creative time. People make their own Christmas decorations,
including a star-shaped lantern, called a parol. They hang these bright lanterns in
windows and streets for the entire festive season, from September until January.
"The parol is something that families create together using colourful, recycled plastic
and little pieces of wood," says Jonelle Tan.
"On Christmas morning we always take photos in front of churches near where my
mum grew up," she says. "My mum and grandpa also used to take pictures in front of
these churches."
But in 50 years' time, this special place for the Jonelle Tan family could no longer
exist due to rising sea levels. "It's scary as it's not that far away," she says.
In November last year, super typhoon Goni, the year's most powerful storm, hit the
Philippines at 225km/h (140mph).
"People were stranded on rooftops and all the roads were flooded," recalls Jonelle
Tan. "A few days before Christmas, we were still helping clean up the mud that had
flooded the houses."
The celebrations for Christmas start early in the Philippines and can last for many
months (Credit: Ryan Eduard Benaid/Getty Images)
The community spirit was incredible that year, she says. People brought food and
gifts to the evacuation centres. "Christmas is a celebration of what we've gone
through that year, together as a community," she says.
Jonelle Tan worries about what Christmas will be like in the future if storm surges and
typhoons become more frequent.
"It is very scary because the area where my relatives live gets flooded very easily,"
she says. Flooding already means that many families can't put up their Christmas
lights.
"We are fighting for our Christmas traditions to continue and to keep our family and
community bonds," she says.
During the festive period, families head into the mountains around the capital San
Juan to gather at food trucks, called chinchorros. There they eat suckling pig and cod
fritters. "It's very communal, you meet your neighbours and talk to strangers," says
Gómez-Colón.
I've never felt as vulnerable in my entire life. I was in a basement
room with 10 others and lost communication with my dad and
friends – Salvador Gómez-Colón
One of his favourite Christmas traditions is the parranda: carolling in the streets and
outside people's houses. "It's very lively," he says. "We sing folklore songs with
cymbals and drums."
This tradition continued even during Puerto Rico's darkest days, after the country
was hit by category 5 Hurricane Maria in September 2017.
Hurricane Maria dropped more rain on Puerto Rico than any storm to hit the
country since 1956. A storm of such strength is five times more likely to hit now than
in the 1950s due to climate change, a 2019 study found.
"I've never felt as vulnerable in my entire life," says Gómez-Colón. "I was [sheltering]
in a basement room with 10 others and lost communication with my dad and friends.
I saw cars being lifted and palm trees flying around."
Despite the terrible situation, Puerto Ricans managed to celebrate Christmas that
year. "The parrandas happened. It was performative – to show that everything was
fine," he says.
In January, when the island was still without power, people gathered to celebrate
the Fiestas de la Calle San Sebastián, Puerto Rico's biggest annual festival marking
the end of the holiday season. "There was live music and a lot of performances. It
was a blast," he says.
Many churches in Puerto Rico used emergency generators to hold a "midnight mass"
on Christmas Eve in the wake of the 2017 hurricane (Credit: Mario Tama/Getty
Images)
During the Christmas period, much of Puerto Rico was still in complete darkness.
To help people rebuild their lives after Maria, Gómez-Colón started a crowdfunding
campaign called "Light and Hope for Puerto Rico." Over 10 months, he raised almost
$170,000 (£129,000) to support 3,500 families in Puerto Rico. With this money he
bought hand-cranked washing machines as well as solar lamps for families without
power.
"Santa couldn't come to homes that year, [but] the lights were gifts in themselves," he
says.
"It's been four years since Maria but to many of us it feels like it was yesterday," he
says. "You can repair bridges and street signs, but you can't repair the harm that has
been done to the Puerto Rican mind."
Daniel Holanda celebrates Christmas every year at his grandmother's house in the
city of Anápolis in Brazil's central state, Goiás.
"Christmas has changed a lot since I was a child. We used to play a lot of different
games outside. Now we can't do it anymore because of the flooding," he says.
"Today children can't enjoy Christmas in the same way as they always have to be
careful and prepared that something is going to happen."
Wildfires are also a major problem in Goiás. Months after the peak fire season
between June and September, people can still feel the effects. "We can smell sulphur
from our homes," says Holanda. "Sometimes it is difficult to breathe."
Despite the challenges, people find a way to gather and give back at Christmas time,
he says. "On Christmas Eve, we give food to people in need, especially old people."