A new United Nations report warns that more than 100 million “extremely poor” people in Africa are threatened by accelerating climate change, and climate change may also melt the few glaciers on the African continent within 20 years. A report issued by the World Meteorological Organization on Tuesday provided a stern reminder that the 1.3 billion people in Africa are still “extremely vulnerable” because the African continent is warming faster and faster than the global average-54 countries on the African continent at that time. “By 2030, if proper response measures are not taken, it is estimated that as many as 118 million extremely poor people in Africa will face drought, floods and extreme heat,” said Josefa Leonel Correia Sacko, Commissioner for Rural Economic and Social Affairs. Agriculture of the African Union Commission. WMO defines extremely poor people as those who live on less than US$ 1.90 per day.
Sub-Saharan Africa
“In sub-Saharan Africa, climate change may further reduce GDP by as much as 3% by 2050,” Sacco said. “Not only is the physical condition getting worse, the number of people affected is also increasing,” she said in the foreword of the report. WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas stated that last year the temperature throughout Africa continued to rise, “accelerating sea level rise” and extreme weather events such as floods, landslides and droughts-these are all factors of climate change. index. According to the report, last year, Africa’s land and waters were warming up faster than the world average. The 30-year warming trend from 1991 to 2020 is higher in all regions of Africa than the period from 1961 to 1990. The sea level of the tropical coast and the South Atlantic and Indian Ocean coasts is rising faster than the world average.
The report also emphasized that the glaciers of Mount Kilimanjaro, Mount Kenya and the Rwenzori Mountains of Uganda are shrinking, which is a symbol of the rapid and widespread change that is about to take place. “Their current retreat rate is higher than the global average. If this situation continues, it will lead to complete glacier melting by the 2040s,” it warned. “Mount Kenya is expected to melt ten years earlier, which will make it one of the first mountains to lose glaciers due to human-induced climate change.” Although the area is too small to serve as an important water resource reserve, the glaciers in Africa have high tourism and scientific value. On Tuesday, African countries also called for a new system to track the funds of rich countries that failed to meet the US$100 billion annual goal of helping developing countries deal with climate change.
source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/10/19/climate-change-threatens-more-than-100-million-in-africa-un