Mission Climate Change

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Imprint Page

Dear Diary

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

Animal Fact File

Ten top Tips to Combat Climate Change

Bindi Books

Become a Wildlife Warrior!

‘Oh my gosh, it's going to be soooo awesome,' said Bindi. She was jumping around her room, a phone attached to her ear. She listened to the response, and then giggled. ‘I know. It's so far away, and it's going to be so cold. I can hardly wait!'

Bindi was talking to one of her best friends, an American girl called Kelly, whom she'd recently been on a surfing holiday with. But they weren't planning a surf-ari this time.

Bindi's bedroom was surprisingly tidy, and a big suitcase on the floor next to her bookcase was jammed full of warm wintery clothes. Spike the echidna was snuffling around the suitcase, feeling a little left out of all the excitement.

A ‘ping' came from the laptop on Bindi's desk.

‘Hang on, Kelly, I've just got an email from DJ. I've told you about him, remember? He's my Aboriginal
friend from Darwin? We got lost at Kakadu last time we saw each other. You're gonna love him. He's as crazy as you are!' she giggled again. A series of beeps came through the earpiece and Bindi said, ‘Oh, just a tick, there's a call on the other line. Okay, mate, really looking forward to seeing you soon. Have a great flight. See yaaaa …'

Bindi switched to the other call. ‘Hello, Bindi speaking.' After a moment, she squealed with excitement and started bouncing on her bed. ‘Hannah, how are you?' Hannah was another of Bindi's good friends. She lived in South Africa and her family ran a fantastic horse-
trekking business. Last time Bindi had visited they'd gone for a horse trek, and ended up helping to shut down an illegal hunting reserve.

Spike the echidna snuffled again and tried to look his cutest. Bindi didn't notice. Normally he received a lot more affection when he came to visit, but today he could have been a ball of fluff for all the interest Bindi was taking in him. He was thinking it was time he sauntered back to his enclosure and found a few hundred ants to snack on, when he was surprised by yet another squeal from his human friend. Enough was enough! He scuttled towards the bedroom door,
nudged it open and headed out to the garden.

‘Bye, Spike,' said Bindi as she saw him leave. ‘Sorry about the noise.' But seconds later she was once again absorbed in her phone conversation.

‘Yeah. We're leaving later this afternoon and meeting DJ at the airport.' She stopped bouncing for a moment and nodded as Hannah spoke. ‘I've done my research, and Madi – you know, he's the friend I made when I visited Sumatra? The one whose dad now works as part of a tiger protection unit after we helped catch some tiger poachers? Well, he's flying out with us and is
due to arrive here –' she checked her watch – ‘any moment!'

She heard a knock at the front door. ‘That'll be him. Better get off the phone. We are going to rock this climate change conference, Hannah. Without a doubt!' Bindi gave another squeal. She couldn't wait!

‘Welcome to Helsinki!'

A day later, Bindi, Robert, Terri, DJ and Madi stumbled out of the arrivals gate at Helsinki airport, carrying their luggage. They had left behind a balmy southern hemisphere summer and arrived in a very chilly,
snowy, Nordic winter. Kelly had travelled by herself from Oregon in the US, and Hannah and her mum, Kirsten, had flown to Helsinki from Cape Town. Although Hannah's flight was not as long as her friend's, the change in temperature was just as extreme!

Professor Fredrik Tikkanen gathered up the bleary-eyed travellers and their luggage, and led them out to the vehicles that would take them north to Kuhmo, a small town near the Russian border, which was hosting the conference.

‘So how do you know the professor, Bindi?' asked Madi as they walked towards the terminal exit.

‘He toured around Australia earlier this year, and dropped into Australia Zoo on his way through,' answered Bindi. ‘He spoke to us about the climate change conference he was organising, and asked whether we wanted to take part.'

Madi smiled. ‘And of course you said –'

‘YES, and here we all are,' finished off Bindi.

‘It's awesome,' said DJ, trying to stop his teeth from chattering.

Kelly was already talking to the professor about his university work. He was a lecturer in environmental science, and extremely passionate about conservation and wildlife.
She shared his enthusiasm, and was interested in studying marine biology, so they hit it off immediately. Taking in his thick woollen coat, black-rimmed glasses and blond beard, Kelly thought he looked exactly like a professor should!

As the group left the airport terminal, snowflakes were falling lightly. Madi, who had never seen snow before, was mesmerised. ‘Everything is so white!' he exclaimed.

‘Yes,' agreed the professor, taking a look around. ‘For months of the year, Finland is a snow-covered paradise.'

DJ muttered under his breath, ‘I'm pretty sure paradise is warmer than this.'

Hannah and Kelly giggled their agreement. Although everyone had wrapped up warm in layers of coats, hats and scarves, they couldn't help but shiver.

‘Don't worry, we'll be in Kuhmo in a shake of a lamb's tail,' the professor said optimistically. Terri, Kirsten, Hannah, DJ and Kelly jumped into a large station wagon, which was driven by Alek, a neighbour of Fredrik's.

The professor then led Madi, Bindi and Robert over to a sleek black Audi. Once inside, the car's
heater starting blowing out warm air and the children began to relax.

Madi turned to Bindi. ‘How long is a shake of a lamb's tail?' he asked.

Professor Tikkanen overheard the question. ‘Ah, in this case, a little under eight hours,' he answered, ‘as long as the snowfall doesn't get any heavier. It's been coming down quite heavily for the past week, but it's due to lessen within the next day or two.'

Madi looked out the car window, eyes wide. ‘I can't believe I'm in Finland, with real snow!'

‘It's a long way from Sumatra, and a long way from Australia, that's for sure!' Bindi said. ‘I'm so
glad you were able to take part in the conference.'

Madi looked serious. ‘So am I. I don't want my island home to disappear because of rising sea levels. We need to take action on climate change to stop it from happening.'

Professor Tikkanen took the motorway turn-off, beginning the trip north. ‘And that is why we've invited children from all over the world to this conference,' he said with enthusiasm. ‘It will be the first time that we'll have a truly global perspective on climate change from the younger generation. It will be wonderful!'

The landscape of Finland was
very different to Madi's homeland. Professor Tikkanen explained that the country had over 187,000 lakes, and a population of around 5.2 million people.

‘Now that we've left the city, the countryside looks like a big national park,' observed Madi.

Professor Tikkanen nodded. ‘We certainly have a lot of trees,' he said. ‘But Finland is one of the world's biggest producers of pulp and paper products, which means we cut down a lot of them too.'

Bindi had researched this a little. ‘Yes, but I've read that Finland also has 35 national parks and 12 wilderness areas that are protected by law.'

The professor smiled. ‘That's true. And we are now one of the world leaders in using bioenergy, which means we use renewable resources, namely wood, to do things like generate heat and electricity, instead of using fuels that require destructive mining and will one day run out. This is something I will be talking about at the conference. But there is much more to do and discuss with the international community. Even locally, in my small village, there are people who don't believe the changes we are seeing in the world today are caused by humans.'

Robert, who must have drifted off to sleep, began murmuring,
‘Northern Corroboree Frog … Sunset Frog … Yellow-bellied Frog … White-bellied Frog … Spotted Frog …'

Madi turned to Bindi. ‘What's he saying?'

Bindi smiled proudly at her snoozing brother. ‘He's listing the different types of frogs that may become extinct in Australia if the country keeps getting hotter and drier.'

Madi was impressed. Robert was so committed to the cause he was thinking about it even while he slept!