Climate Change in Africa and How to Address It

Introduction

Africa is the world’s second-biggest continent since it covers about 30.3 million kilometers. It accounts for six percent of the globe’s total surface area as well as 20 percent of the land. Its population is 1.3 billion inhabitants, which is 16% of the World’s human population.¹ According to environmental scientists, Africa is exceptionally exposed to the effects of climatic alterations subject to its elevated levels of poverty, dependence on rain-fed farming, and water shortage.² Additionally, the continent is extremely hot; therefore, further heat up from global warming affects its temperatures.

Issue

Climate change is affecting the African population, with research indicating that variable temperatures have impacted health, food productivity, livelihoods, and water resources.² In relation to the 2015 climate transformation responsibility index, of the ten adversely affected countries, seven are in Africa. Extreme weather occurrences are the first impact identified as evidence of Africa’s changing climate. The region has been declared to be the world’s greatest helpless territory to the consequences of weather alterations. Warming temperatures are expected to trigger frequent and severe weather patterns, including flooding, famines, fires, and rainstorms.² For instance, the entire East African region faced severe drought during 2011 and 2012, which had never occurred in the previous sixty years.

In addition, the most devastating floods in North Africa occurred in North Algeria, resulting in eight hundred deaths and a $400 million economic loss. ² The second effect is food and water availability, where famines, stress caused by heat, and floods have initiated a decrease in food harvests and a significant decline in animal output.¹ East African country, for instance, is witnessing an unfavorable food calamity in the twenty-first century, with approximately 12 million people in desperate need of nourishment. Because of the lack of rainfall, reliance on rain-fed agriculture exacerbates the situation. There have been visible repercussions such as rivers running dry, water bodies shrinking, and glaciers melting.² Water level drops have harmed economies, particularly on large rivers. Countries such as Ghana, for instance, depend on hydroelectricity generated by the Akasombo dam on the Volta River, which has suffered environmental destruction caused by extreme weather events.¹ As a consequence of climate change, Mt Kilimanjaro’s glaciers are gradually but dramatically melting. Since glaciers are water towers, their absence causes rivers to dry up.

Because of the region’s pre-existing high levels of poverty, global warming has had a significant impact on the African people. To address the aforementioned environmental issue, the region must establish adequate climate financing systems to fund adaptation efforts.² Funding should be directed toward low-carbon emission initiatives and the expansion of renewable energy. Furthermore, new forms of planned urbanization must be adopted by constructing more compact, efficient, and less polluted cities, and connecting with city networks throughout the world to share expertise on clean energy development.² Nonetheless, despite commendable efforts to alleviate the situation, there are still obstacles impeding the successful implementation of policies. Significant limitations include a lack of creative technological solutions and real-time climatic data.

The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) is one of the African stakeholders combating climate change. The organization promotes the development and application of innovative climate change solutions.³ This is accomplished through the financing of green initiatives in agricultural industries, which ensures that investments conform to conservational and social protection requirements, thereby mitigating any environmental risks and repercussions. Furthermore, UNEP standardizes the green economy transition by assisting countries in translating national economic policies and climate resilience policies into appropriate development strategies.³ It also promotes ministerial engagement at all levels to develop inter-agency task forces in order to assist ecosystem-based adaptation for food security.

Conclusion

Floods and droughts are only a few of the extreme events that occur around the world because of the ever-changing climate conditions. Problems with extreme weather patterns, such as food insecurity, water shortage, and mortality from natural catastrophes, point to a concerning trend. Aside from the outstanding effort being made to mitigate these effects, there is still a need for a comprehensive approach to addressing climate change.

Reference List

Adenle, A. A., Ford, J. D., Morton, et al. Managing climate change risks in Africa-A global perspective. Ecological Economics. 2017;141:190-201. Web.

Kabubo-Mariara J, Mulwa R. Adaptation to climate change and climate variability and its implications for household food security in Kenya. Food Security. 2019;11(6):1289-1304. Web.

Bakhtiari F. International cooperative initiatives and the United Nations framework convention on climate change. Climate Policy. 2017;18(5):655-663. Web.