While africas lack of modern energy and minimum carbon footprint have made it the slightest contributor to the growing global warming crisis, the massive continent bears the brunt of the world. Africa feeling the heat of climate change africa renewal. Cognizant of the destructive impact of climate change on the oceans around africa, affected countries came together at the african ministerial conference on ocean economies and climate change in. Solutions to global warming in africa effects of global. Th e problem of understanding climate change or global warming is one of the major challenges confronting african people, their governments and the african union au. Since the 2006 saeo, local and global research has advanced.
The global net flux during the period 18502000 was 156 pg c, about 63% of which was from the tropics. The potential impacts of climate change on maize production in africa and latin america in 2055, global environmental change, vol. By the year 2080, east africas temperature is predicted to rise 5. Global warming, the phenomenon of rising average air temperatures near earths surface over the past 100 to 200 years. Global warming is caused by anthropogenic activities.
Energy efficiency technologies allow us to use less energy to get the sameor higherlevel of production, service, and comfort. Although the countries of africa have some of the lowest overall and per capita global warming emissions on the planet, they are also likely to suffer from. Above all, alternative energy sources solar, wind, hydro, geothermal. The sahara is actually shrinking, with vegetation arising on land where there was nothing but sand and rocks before. Africa accounts for the smallest share of global greenhouse gas emissions3. Signs of global warming in the united states, region by region iv executive summary v introduction 1. The latest ipcc report predicts global warming of 1. Global warming is the ongoing rise of the average temperature of the earths climate system and has been demonstrated by direct temperature measurements and by measurements of various effects of the warming. The global climate is the connected system of sun, earth and oceans, wind, rain and snow, forests, deserts and savannas, and everything people do, too. In fact, an in crease in average global temperature will also cause the circulation of the atmosphere to change, resulting in some areas of. The central and eastern himalayan glaciers may disappear by 2035. The energy used to power, heat, and cool our homes, businesses, and industries is the single largest contributor to global warming. Global warming is a gradual increase in the earths temperature generally due to the greenhouse effect caused by increased levels of carbon dioxide, cfcs, and other pollutants.
Solutions to global warming in africa include effective land use planning to avoid forest degradation, developing renewable energy, and limiting the expansion of coalfired power plants. Cause of global warming fossil fuel consumption is increasing rapidly to satisfy growing energy demand after the industrial revolution, which started at the end of the 18th century. Climate change refers to significant, longterm changes in the global climate. The global mean temperature in this region is to increase by 1. We attempted bioclimatic reconstruction of past distributions of succulent karoo and fynbos biomes because these biomes are unique to south africa, they are spatially constrained to the unique winter rainfall region, and they. South africa s response to climate change was presented. Solutions to global warming in africa solutions to global warming in africa include effective land use planning to avoid forest degradation, developing renewable energy, and limiting the expansion of coalfired power plants. Projections of future temperature and rainfall, and potential impacts of climate change on health, water resources, rangelands, maize, forestry and biodiversity were discussed. Global warming is melting glaciers in every region of the world, putting millions of people at risk from floods, droughts and lack of drinking water. Global aridity has increased substantially since the 1970s due to recent drying over africa, southern europe, east and south asia, and eastern australia. Global warmingthe case for nigeria global warming is the increase in the average temperature of the earths nearsurface air and oceans since the. It is a major aspect of climate change which, in addition to rising global surface temperatures, also includes its effects, such as changes in precipitation.
This article discusses amongst cause of global warming and consequences of. Global warming is already changing the environment, the economy, and peoples ways of living. Global warming is the buzzword of the 21st century, that interests scientists and scares ordinary citizens has man tampered with nature to a selfdestructive point. Arctic sea ice has thinned by 40 percent during the late summer and early autumn months and the loss of sea ice is posing a dire threat to the survival of polar bears, seals and inuit communities. Global warmingthe case for nigeria sahara reporters. Climate change impacts and adaptation in south africa. West and central africa will see particularly large increases in the number of hot days at both 1. Solar activity it is widely recognized that variations in solar radiation and activities, such as solar flares or sunspots, if large enough, could have an impact on the global temperature. This phenomenon has been observed over the past one or two centuries. It is a complex issue full of uncertainties and controversies. Global warming is the phenomenon of gradual increase in temperature near the earths surface. Ice melting in the artic sea due to global warming. Climate change and global warming are both terms that refer to the increase of the average temperature on earth. This article discusses amongst cause of global warming and consequences of global warming on the environment.
South africa, one of the more stable african economies, will likely see a. Famine, floods, population displacement and desertification has been some of the worst consequences of global warming in the continent. This leaves out most developing countries and regions, particularly africa, due. Proxy measurements tree rings, sediments etc for the past years weather balloons radiosondes for the past 44 years satellites msu units for the past 21 years. Global climate change scientific research publishing. Th e impact of climate change in africa introduction climate change has been identifi ed as a leading human and environmental crisis of the 21st century.
South africas response to climate change was presented. The paper introduces global warming, elaborates its causes and hazards and presents some solutions to solve this hot issue. The sahel is greening however in sharp contrast to this gloomy outlook, it seems that global warming has exactly the opposite effect on the sahara and the sahel. The earth is warming, nature is rapidly changing across the world and life as we know it is becoming increasingly unsteady. Although the countries of africa have some of the lowest overall and per capita global warming emissions on the planet. Global warming and climate change, causes, impacts and mitigation article pdf available september 2015 with 51,801 reads how we measure reads. Global warming as well as global cooling refers specifically to any change in the global average surface tem perature. The cause of global warming executive summary three of the four methods of measuring global temperature show no signs of global warming. Next time, i will proffer some solutions and policies we could implement to minimize the catastrophic effects of global warming in africa. Pdf global warming and climate change, causes, impacts. Whether the cause is natural or humandriven, global warming is a serious issue that everyone should be aware of. It is up to teachers to choose the article that best meets the needs of their classroom. Global warming the gradual heating of earths surface, oceans and atmosphere is one of the most vexing environmental issues of our.
As such, there is increase in heat levels within the earths atmosphere because of the heat generated by this situation. During this period, the greatest regional flux was from tropical asia 48 pg c, while the smallest regional flux was from north africa and middle east 3 pg c. Record global greenhouse gas emissions are putting the world on a path toward unacceptable warming, with serious implications for development prospects in africa. For arona diedhiou, solutions already in place must take greater account of the reality of african contexts. Regional patterns of climate change temperature changes projected warming is slightly less strong than that of the global land area, which is a general feature of the southern hemisphere. Due to its high climate variability and rainfed agriculture, central africa is expected to experience longer and more frequent heatwaves as well as an increase in wet extremes. The climate of a place, say new york, can be described as its rainfall, changing temperatures during the year and. The changes arent over, either, and the more that changes around the world, the more critical it is to understand this complex and important issue. Global warming exacerbates african conflict africa is arguably the most vulnerable continent to the impacts of global warming, despite being the least responsible for the pollution causing it. How climate affects agriculture climate change can affect agriculture in a variety of ways. Central africa, for the most part, is landlocked and is geographically threatened by climate change. Global warming is the phenomenon of increase in earths temperatures due to the failure of certain gases to leave the atmosphere.