Africa, a continent heavily grappling with socio-economic challenges in recent years, now faces an even heavier burden: climate change. According to the World Meteorological Organization’s (WMO) latest report, Africa experiences its warmest year in history in 2023. WMO announces the impact of these temperatures is unjustly severe, primarily due to the increasing costs of adaption for the continent. These worldwide findings were unveiled at the 12th Climate Change for Development in Africa Conference (CCDA) and paint an evident picture of the urgent need for action.
Overall, temperatures were 0.61°C higher than the last decade's average, with certain regions in North Africa warming even faster per decade. The highest temperature recorded in the Northwestern area of Africa, including countries like Tunisia and Morocco, reached 49.0°C to 50.4°C. Rising temperatures contribute much more than hotter weather, with natural disasters like heatwaves, droughts, and flooding also arising.
Such erratic weather and extreme natural disasters have destroyed Africa's agriculture and food security. Due to persistent drought in North Africa, cereal production was 10% below the five-year average in 2023. On the other side, South Africa faces similar struggles with significant reductions in its key crops, wheat and millet. These agriculture challenges push hunger and poverty, further weakening vulnerable communities.
Due to agriculture limitations and natural disasters alone, 1500 deaths have been reported. Highlighting the tragic human cost of climate disasters.
The economic impact of climate change is even more staggering. On average, African countries lose 2-5% of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) annually. Adaptation costs to agriculture and weather alone are projected to be $30-50 billion annually over the next decade, equivalent to 2-3% of the region’s GDP. Currently, many African countries cannot support the financial strain and may be forced to settle for limited resources and no future developments to address the concerning climate crisis.
The WMO emphasizes the need for increased investment in meteorological and hydrological services in Africa to strengthen early warning systems. In 2024, only 40% of Africa had access to such systems, recorded as the lowest rate globally. The Early Warnings for All initiative addresses universal protection from climate change events through warning systems, anticipatory action, and resilience efforts. Their goal is to close this gap, ensuring the entire continent receives timely and accurate information by 2027. With the help of this initiative, thousands of lives and communities can be saved.
“Africa faces disproportionate burdens and risks arising from climate change-related weather events, causing massive humanitarian crises with detrimental impacts on agriculture, food security, every infrastructure, and public health,” reports H.E. Ambassador Josefa Leonel Correia Sacko of the African Union Commission.
The climate crisis in Africa is a global problem. The butterfly effect of climate change does not respect borders. The extreme weather in Africa impacts international food supplies and economic stability while pushing for migration.
Africa’s challenges highlight the unfairness of global climate responsibility. While other nations and big corporations contribute the most to greenhouse gas emissions, Africa suffers the consequences. By investing in and taking collective action to support Africa, the global community will also strengthen its own adaptation to the climate crisis and address this existential threat.
I believe that this is one of the saddest blogs I have read. I believe that it is not talked about enough. Africa is experiencing a global issue that can be fixed, but it is not a concern enough for people to genuinely do something about it. I really liked how you mentioned that the butterfly effect of climate change does not respect boarders, I think that is very clear and true.
ReplyDeleteI'm really happy that you did a blog post over this becuase, living in the USA, we obviously see things that have changed due to climate change, but I haven't really thought about how countries in Africa or other places in the world are being negatively affected due to the warming, especially since they are dealing with the consequences of what high industrial countries are creating all of this global climate change.
ReplyDeleteThis is an excellently written post, the truth of the climate change conditions in Africa and other developing countries is deeply saddening and frustrating. You captured these conditions effectively, and your line near the end "the butterfly effect of climate change does not respect boarders" is something that we in the U.S. do not consider to be as impactful as it is. Very well done, I hope this reaches an extensive audience.
ReplyDeleteVery informative post! As Americans it can be easy to forget our privileges and recognize how everyone's actions affect other people. Even people across the world. I appreciated that you expressed how unfair it is that countries emit the most greenhouse gasses aren't nearly responsible enough for their fair share of blame.
ReplyDeleteWow! All of these statistics are really putting this into perspective for me. I think you did a great job with this post and showing that this is a problem rather than telling us that it is. You used so much of your knowledge in this post, and it is represented plainly. I hate to say it but when I think of climate change and its effects on people, I never stopped to consider other countries and how it may be affecting them. You did a great job, and I really enjoyed reading what you had to say.
ReplyDeleteIt is exciting that you mention the weather patterns and how they impact the environment as well as the trends between climate change and global warming. When we look at the comparison between natural disasters and climate change, we can piece together how the correlation does in fact lead to causation. Amazing posts and I love the graphics as well in the post.
ReplyDeleteCreating a post advocating for the threat climate change poses to developing countries is extremely important so I was super excited to read this post. I feel a majority of the time when places other than the United States are discussed it is regarding colder areas. Learning that Africa is facing the increased effects of climate change at this rate and does not have the resources to combat the loss of agriculture is heartbreaking.
ReplyDeleteYou organized this post really well and perfectly captured how dire and scary this situation is and has been for decades leading up to this. We cannot afford, as you aptly mentioned, to consider borders or country loyalty when it comes to the horrific impact of climate change. Your post made me wonder more about how the US can import more goods, develop more hydrological infrastructure, and dispatch volunteers to all countries that are getting this hot. In this current year there should be no excuse for innocent people starving.
ReplyDeleteIt is always sad to hear about people experiencing the harsh consequences of our actions. And dare I say they are receiving some of the harshest consequences of the actions of the USA, China, India, Uk and the other main polluters in the world. Too often we think about ourselves and how the global warming is affecting us here in Kalamazoo, Michigan, the USA but rarely do we think of the third world countries and states that are suffering far worse. It is always good to have our thoughts expanded past ourselves and you accomplished that well.
ReplyDeleteThis must be a grave situation because Africa struggles as is with droughts, heat, habitat loss, etc. The climate crisis surely affects different areas in different ways so I was interested to hearing how it impacts somewhere other than the US.
ReplyDeleteI like that you provided the temperatures in Celsius and never included a Fahrenheit. Sometimes I wonder if it would help to only use Celsius or Fahrenheit when discussing global climate change so that everyone is at the same understanding.
ReplyDeleteI like how your article covered parts of Africa and didnt focus solely on the U.S specifically when you talked about how extreme natural disasters have destroyed Africa's agriculture and food security
ReplyDeleteI agree with other commenters about the value of your post. I found the connection you made between Africa and other countries, the "butterfly effect" as you call it, is so important for us all to recognize. We share this one planet. It is the only one we have.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very helpful and informative post! It is easy to get so focused on how issues like climate change affect only one location, such as the United States, but I think it is incredibly important to understand how other areas are affected by the climate crisis.
ReplyDeleteEliminating the idea of borders when it comes to climate change is essential. It will affect every country in the world and will impact all of us. Explaining how it will affect other parts of the world is key for this.
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