The report states: " Relative to 1970-79, the frequency of droughts in. Weather patterns are becoming less favorable in many instances, increasing the volatility of crop and livestock yields. Children displaced from their homes in Ethiopia. . Drought, flooding and rising sea levels are creating havoc across our continent we need support from richer nations to adapt. Governments are their shareholders and must use their influence to get the banks to step up. Flooding is the most prevalent disaster in North Africa, the second most common in East, South and Central Africa, and the third most common in West Africa ().In North Africa, the 2001 disastrous flood in northern Algeria resulted in about 800 deaths and economic loss of . New WMO #StateofClimate in Africa report:Withering droughts and devastating floods are hitting Africa hard. An analysis by a team of scientists from the universities of Bristol and Cardiff shows there was an increase in the annual number of dry and severely dry months in East, Southern and Central Africa between 1983 and 2021. Climate change has already increased heat waves and drought, and has doubled the probability of marine heat waves around most of Africa, the panel found. Without urgent action to combat the growing climate crisis, many parts of North Africa (as far south as Sudan) could become uninhabitable by the end of this . In their new report, the British scientists also found that some African countries including Kenya, Ethiopia, Nigeria and Angola are experiencing simultaneous crises, with half the country suffering acute water shortages while the other half sees more frequent flooding. Climate scientist Colin Kelley suggests that climate change was a significant contributor to the increased severity of the most recent drought in the region. The Congo basin has the ability to absorb around 1.2bn tonnes of carbon dioxide a year 4% of global emissions. A team of scientists from the universities of Bristol and Cardiff found that droughts are becoming more frequent and intense since 1983 in much of East, Southern and Central Africa, with an increase in the annual number of severely dry months and an expansion of the land mass affected by drought. Across eastern, southern, and central Africa, Oxfam estimates that 52 million people in 18 countries are facing up to crisis levels of hunger as a result of weather extremes, compounded by poverty and conflict. Africa as a whole contributes to about two to three per cent of global emissions that cause global warming and climate change. I want to be a teacher when I grow up., 10-year-old Bukhari Aden accompanies his mother Dama Mohammed who collects water from a pond in Ethiopia. She said that restoring already existing ecosystems, by planting more Acacia and mangrove trees, for example, is vital in countries like Djibouti that are vulnerable to droughts, storms, flash-floods and coastal erosion. The Horn of Africa. Yet the whole continent received only $30bn of global climate finance in 2020. Photo: Reuters. We arrived at this camp seven days ago, hoping things will be better. A "catastrophic" combination of drought and communities' declining resilience has left an estimated 2.3 million people facing severe acute food insecurity in Zambia alone, according to the International Federation of Red Cross (IFRC). Press Inquiries. 10-year-old Hibo carries water in a jerrycan to her temporary home in a camp for internally displaced people in Somalia. In fact, natural disasters (including drought) have increased at a much faster pace than in the rest of the world. By the end of this decade, 118 million extremely poor people across Africa will be facing extended periods of drought, flooding and extreme heat as a direct result of climate change. Women gather at a camp in Higlo, Ethiopia. By 2030, 108-116 million people in Africa are expected to be exposed to sea level rise risk. In the small East Africa nation of Djibouti, for instance, UNEP has undertaken three ecosystem-based adaptation projects, including a drought mitigation project specifically aimed at assisting subsistence farmers and herders whose crops are failing and livestock are dying. If immediate funding needs are met, life-saving support may avert catastrophic consequences. Ministers at the pre-Cop meeting in DRC made it clear that African countries need finance urgently to build resilience and adapt to the devastating impacts of a crisis they did nothing to cause. Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? "Climate change and La Nia have caused an unprecedented multi-season drought [in East Africa], punctuated by one of the worst March-to-May rainy seasons in 70 years," the U.N. News Service reported last month. He has never been to school. Photo: Reuters/Feisal Omar. The horn of Africa, encompassing Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya is also affected by climate driven conflict. Climate change is leading to unpredictable variations in temperature and rainfall patterns, which is expected to increase, both in frequency and intensity. Unlike in other parts of the Africa, women constitute the majority of migrants in the East and Horn of Africa Region. The teachers also left. Flooding also affected the Sahel and surrounding areas from May to October 2019. African countries need support from both public and private sources of finance, especially from the multilateral development banks. Water stress and hazards like withering droughts and devastating floods are hitting African communities, economies and ecosystems hard, according to a new report launched on Thursday by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). Land degradation or scientifically desertification is due mainly to anthropogenic factors and accelerated by climate change and drought. Ecosystem-based adaptation approaches, such as planting indigenous, rapidly growing species of plants that can have immediate impact on the ground, combined with long-term solutions is incredibly effective at protecting communities from the impacts of climate change, said Eva Comba, a Task Manager at UNEPs Climate Adaptation Unit. Climate change to bring longer droughts in Europe: study. Are you sure you want to print? In DRC and elsewhere, climate change is exacerbating conflict by causing flooding, deforestation and drought, deepening poverty and competition for resources. She says drought "has brought starvation and . UNICEF and partners are providing life-saving services to children and their families in dire need across the Horn of Africa. Changes in continental water bodies have major impacts on the agriculture sector, ecosystems, biodiversity, said the WMO chief. The African continent will be hardest hit by climate change. Africa requires $2.8tn by 2030 to play its part in limiting global heating to 1.5C and to address the impacts of climate change. But much more is needed to turn these murmurs of solidarity into gusting winds of change. Photo: Reuters/Feisal Omar. Increased temperature contributed to a 34 per cent reduction in agricultural productivity growth in Africa since 1961 more than any other region in the world. Meanwhile, climate action is gaining momentum. The locals have already noticed this happening. Entire pastoral communities have been forced to leave their homes in search ofwater for their families and livestock. Over 3 million people across Kenya are in a crisis situation, and hunger is rife. The year 2021 was either the third or fourth warmest years on record for Africa. But delegates also focused on the vast opportunities that ambitious joint climate action could create to drive progress across the sustainable development goals (SDGs). The Horn of Africa (HoA) is once again being battered by climate change induced drought, with the UN report, over "20 million people, and at least 10 million children facing severe drought . Amina J Mohammed is the deputy secretary-general of the United Nations and chair of the UN Sustainable Development Group, and a former minister of environment of Nigeria. This would make climate-related challenges - from droughts, flooding, famine, to conflicts - an even bigger threat to vulnerable communities. Achieving universal access will require massive investment in renewables, creating millions of jobs and driving economic development and prosperity. A health worker measures the arm of a child to assess his nutrition status at Higlo camp in Ethiopia. Scientists are blaming climate change for the current crisis in a part of the world that is least able to cope. Even countries with relatively heavy rainfall such as Cameroon, the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of the Congo have been gradually drying over the past four decades and may be affected by droughts over the next decade if the current trend continues, the report said. The charity is urging world leaders to consider the African drought crisis at their next annual climate conference, known as COP27, which begins Sunday in Egypt. Obsinale, one year old, is recovering from malnutrition at a UNICEF-supported centre in Hargeisa Hospital, Somalia. However, the continent suffers the heaviest impacts of the climate crisis, including increased heatwaves, severe droughts and catastrophic cyclones, like the ones that hit Mozambique and Madagascar in recent years. They called on developed countries to deliver on their promises, starting with the pledge made at last years Cop26 climate conference in Glasgow to double adaptation finance to at least $40bn annually. Fatuma pours water obtained from a solar-powered borehole installed by UNICEF with support from the UK Government in Puntland, Somalia. A report in September by United Nations agencies and other relief organizations found that millions of Somalis are facing extreme levels of acute hunger, with signs of famine in some areas. We need things for our basic needs, like meals and water.. However, a lot more work needs to be done to mitigate the worst effects of climate change that is yet to come, say experts. African countries need a new generation of partnerships with donors, multilateral development banks and private financiers. Here in Kenya, it seems our model of development has led to a culture of degradation of our environment and the depletion of our natural resources," reads the Bishops Letter. SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt French President Emmanuel Macron said he discussed human rights with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah . It contributes to the serious tensions and divisions that are preventing global action on a host of other issues, from peace and security to human rights. Our new research is a warning bell that the dry land regions of Africa are heading into worse droughts and even lush, tropical countries may soon be feeling the effects of drought, said a statement by WaterAid chief executive Tim Wainwright. This is crucial to building trust a prerequisite for joint climate action. UNICEF and partners are on the ground to support children with life-saving services and to help build families longer term resilience in an effort to stop drought from devastating lives for years to come. The intense drought in Europe from 2018 to 2019 was the first two-year dry period in 250 . As the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu said: Exclusion is never the way forward on our shared paths to freedom and justice.. Baby Sukra at a UNICEF-supported centre where children are treated for malnutrition in Somalia. With a special focus on water,The State of the Climatereveals that high water stress is estimated to affect about 250 million people on the continent and displace up to 700 million individuals by 2030. I recently walked the parched earth of north-east Kenya and heard heartbreaking accounts of families slipping back into poverty. The last intergovernment panel on climate change report suggested that the Horn of Africa would get wetter with climate change, while more recent academic research has concluded that. The Children's Climate Risk Index, released by UNICEF in 2021, found that 1 billion children nearly half of the world's 2.2 billion children live in one of the 33 countries classified as being "extremely high risk" due to climate change impacts. It is home to most of the worlds second-largest rainforest, and has major deposits of cobalt, copper and aluminium the minerals required for the key transformations we need for renewable energy and digital economies. Climate Change. They are indivisible from building peace, security, stability and prosperity. At the moment in the Horn of Africa we are witnessing vulnerable communities being disproportionately affected by climate change who are least able to buffer against its impact, said Susan Gardner, the Director of UNEPs Ecosystems Division. Tim Wainwright, Chief Executive of WaterAid who commissioned the report said:"Our new research is a warning bell that the dryland regions of Africa are heading into worse droughts and even lush, tropical countries, may soon be feeling the effects of drought. October 31, 2019. He observed that that this is contributing to increases in the frequency and severity of coastal flooding and erosion, and salinity in low-lying cities. However, African nations cannot fight the climate crisis, protect their rich rainforests and safeguard their biodiversity alone. The drought in this region is part of a trend. Some 600 million Africans still lack access to electricity. Having already lost 25 livestock, she keeps them close to home for fear of them not finding food and water. Above: A young boy collects the water he can find in a dried riverbed in Dolow, Somalia. If water is available nearby, it would be easy for me to go to school.. The country experiences a dry season, usually from May to October, and a rainy season that starts in November. Undoubtedly the fact that La Nina is now in its third year has exacerbated the drought, but population growth, a ten-fold increase since 1950, is the main reason why droughts like these, which are perfectly natural and common events, now have such a human impact. Groundwater is highly resilient to drought, so the potential for groundwater to save and transform lives in Africa is huge, said a statement by Alan MacDonald, a groundwater scientist at the British Geological Survey. The scale of the displacement is immense Somalia has 3.7 million internally displaced persons and Ethiopia has 4.2 million internally displaced persons and 800,000 refugees. Climate-related hazards continued to be a major driver of new displacement in Africa. And so they should. While some parts of the continent are gripped by drought, places such as South Sudan and my homeland, Nigeria, are experiencing devastating flash floods that sweep away homes, businesses and livelihoods. Despite the expanding drought zones, the researchers found one positive trend in the extreme weather analysis: satellite data seems to be showing an increase in groundwater storage in some African countries, possibly because rainfall is becoming more intense during short rains seasons. Africa requires $2.8tn by 2030 to play its part in limiting global heating to 1.5C and to address the impacts of climate change. As millions of people in the Greater Horn of Africa have already suffered the longest drought in 40 years, parts of the region arebracingfor a fifth consecutive failed rainy season, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has reported. Based on population exposure data, the countries suffering the worst damage are Somalia, Sudan, South Africa, South Sudan and Namibia, the scientists found. As highlighted, climate change impacts on coastal GDEs are complex due to numerous feedbacks within the atmosphere-hydrosphere-biosphere nexus (Amanambu et al., 2020). Many parts of Northern Africa experienced extreme heat, which was accompanied by wildfires. The effects of climate change are becoming increasingly severe in sub-Saharan Africa, where millions of people are facing severe food shortages due to drought. We have nothing. UNEP is also working with the European Union and The Africa LEDS project to support Low Emissions Development (LEDS) across the continent in order to unlock socio-economic opportunities whilst fulfilling the climate objectives of the Paris Agreement. In Africa, only four out of 10 people are covered by Multi-Hazard Early Warning Systems. The climate crisis is a child rights crisis, UNICEF is working with partners to support families displaced by drought and conflict, Millions of children are facing the deadly effects of drought, including acute hunger, malnutrition and thirst, The world needs to get water smart. UNICEF has launched a regional call to action to address the drought crisis. Regions affected by drought have expanded by as much as 40 per cent in many African countries since the 1980s, probably as a result of climate change, British scientists have concluded. To provide longer term solutions, were working to improve access to climate-resilient water, sanitation and hygiene services, drilling for reliable sources of groundwater and developing the use of solar systems. We are on the ground providing essential health, nutrition, education and child protection services. Drought triggers the desertification, and also the desertification can influence the drought by reducing the water soil content (surface moisture). Climate change contributed to mounting food insecurity, poverty and displacement in Africa last year, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and partners said in a report published on Tuesday. It supports a comprehensive green recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic , which has already cost the continent tens of billions of dollars in lost gross domestic product. She came here with her twin sister Mersinale who just got discharged after fully recovering. As severe malnutrition and the risk of water-borne disease collide, children could die in devastating numbers unless urgent support is provided. And they cautioned that long-term weather patterns could also lead to a decrease in intense rainfall, which would affect groundwater levels. Tragically, their prediction is turning out to be prescient. This paradoxical discovery could mean that the aquifers in dry land regions are becoming replenished, which might allow droughts to be mitigated in countries such as Somalia and Ethiopia, they said. In Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan, and Sudan, more than 750,000 people have been . The Horn of Africa is experiencing its worst drought in 40 years, with more than 50 million people suffering from hunger, unsure where their next meal is coming from. March 16, 2017. The report stated that 2.6 million. This is why the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is currently supporting 22 African countries to use Ecosystem-based Adaptation solutions that are already present in their environment to buttress communities against the deadly effects of climate change. If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Extreme weather in Africa is expected to rise with global warming and climate change . (See why Russia is dragging its feet on climate change.) UN Photo/John Isaac. It is crucial this underused resource is developed sustainably so that the water reaches the people who need it most.. 19 Oct 2021. recently walked the parched earth of north-east Kenya and heard heartbreaking accounts of families slipping back into poverty. Climate change is also altering the timing of water availability. Drought in East Africahas worsened following consecutive failed rainy seasons combined with heightened conflict, related population displacement, and COVID-19 restrictions. Severe droughts have plagued East Africa in recent years, and experts say they are being propelled by climate change. Drought is not new to the Horn of Africa, but experts say the record one killing crops and cattle across Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia has underscored the increasing frequency of drought due. Families with children and adolescents on the move or in emergency camps are at risk of violence or abuse. Hafsa Bedel, a mother of six, is struggling to save the lives of her young camels in Ethiopia. Climate change and drought Over 500,000 people in Kenya's Turkana region are facing starvation. The report shows how extreme weather and climate change are undermining human health and safety, food and water security, and socio-economic development. The severity and magnitude of drought impacts on coastal GDEs in humid subtropical regions will remain speculative without focused studies. How climate change contributes to drought: Warmer temperatures enhance evaporation, which reduces surface water and dries out soils and vegetation. Save the planet. After giving water to the camels and donkey, they take two jerrycans back for the cows at home. Her family owns 230 goats, sheep and camels that her father Abdirizak Yusuf watches over. Another key component of the project is building boreholes and underground water tanks that enable subsistence farmers to water their crops in ways that are sustainable over time. Drought impacts over 13 million people, encouraging induced . [37] We left our home in Guriel and walked for 10 days to reach Kaharey camp," she says. This borehole is like an oasis in the huge desert with no water, says Abdirizak. The research, published Thursday, helps explain the devastating drought that has swept across the Horn of Africa over the past two years, leaving more than 20 million people in urgent need of humanitarian aid, including almost eight million in Somalia. By Arya Rohini. Across the Horn of Africa, a devastating drought threatens starvation and famine for millions, From floods in South Africa to drought in Somalia, climate change is devastating millions of lives. As we approach the United Nations climate change conference, Cop27, in Egypt, we are living on borrowed time. 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