An overheating planet is disproportionately impacting Africa, a region responsible for a relatively small percentage of our planet's heat-trapping gases. Our warming world has worsened deadly flooding in the continent, per reports by Al Jazeera Media Network.
What's happening?
The effects of climate change are hitting Africa harder than most of the rest of the planet. "By 2030, it is estimated that up to 118 million extremely poor people (living on less than US$1.90 per day) will be exposed to drought, floods and extreme heat in Africa, if adequate response measures are not put in place," according to the World Meteorological Organization.
Africa's rainy season, which runs from July to September, brought extremely heavy, unprecedented rainfall to large swathes of the Sahel region this year. This caused catastrophic flooding that killed more than 2,000 people and displaced millions in Sudan, Nigeria, Niger, Chad, and Cameroon.
World Weather Attribution, a collaboration of scientists who analyze how rising global temperatures impact extreme weather events, found that the overheating of our planet has worsened flooding. A WWA October report concluded that Sudan's severe seasonal deluges were twice as likely and 10% more intense because of human-induced climate change.
"These results are incredibly concerning," one of the study's authors, Izidine Pinto of the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute, told Al Jazeera. "With every fraction of a degree of warming, the risk of extreme floods will keep increasing."
Why is extreme flooding in Africa important?
Africa has contributed only about 2 to 3 percent of global emissions but has been disproportionately impacted by the consequences of an overheating planet. This year's deadly flooding events underscore the dangers the continent faces as the world warms.
While extreme weather events have always been a part of Earth's history, the use of dirty energy has made storms and flooding more intense and frequent.
"While climate change is global, the poor are disproportionately vulnerable to its effects," according to the United Nations Environment Programme. "This is because they lack the resources to afford goods and services they need to buffer themselves and recover from the worst of the changing climate effects. This is the case in Africa."Â Â
What's being done about Africa bearing so much of the brunt of a warming world?
Research done by WWA and UNEP helps inform policymakers about combating rising global temperatures and building resilience in highly impacted regions of the world like Africa. The acceleration of the move from dirty energy sources to renewable, cleaner options is an essential part of the solution.
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