Are You Aware? Love for Africa

This is part III in our “Concerning Climate” Awareness Wednesday series. Read the other posts in the series here.

Africa accounts for only two to three percent of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions from energy and industrial sources. According to the World Resources Institute, Africa’s per capita emissions of carbon dioxide in the year 2000 were 0.8 metric tons per person, compared with a global figure of 3.9 tons per person. The U.S. per capita emissions are 16.2 tons per person.

In the fight against climate change, Africa’s contribution is negligible.

Of course, Africa is not a monolith. African countries have varying levels of development and utilization of energy sources. The country of South Africa relies on coal for most energy and produces nearly 10 times the average per-person level of carbon dioxide compared to the rest of the continent. Libya and Equatorial Guinea produce nine and five times the average, respectively. These two nations are oil rich and use mostly oil. But these are the exceptions. Nigeria, the largest country in Africa in terms of population, emits below the average level (0.7 tons per person per year). Most other countries there — including giants like Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Tanzania; smaller countries like Mali and Niger; and medium-sized countries like Mozambique — currently have carbon dioxide output that is almost negligible, at 0.1 to 0.3 tons per person.

Despite contributing very little to global emissions, a shift in the climate has the likelihood of wreaking havoc upon the people of Africa on a scale never before seen. Scientists have identified major areas in which climate change will affect many parts of Africa.

The majority of the continent, except the Sahara and Eastern Africa, will become hotter and drier. This will cause further crop failure, as most agriculture relies on rainfall and not irrigation. This will likely lead to extreme famine and drought conditions. This could occur with a change of just 2 degrees centigrade. Under the worst-case climate change scenario, mean crop yields would decline 13% in West and Central Africa, 11% in North Africa, and 8% in East and Southern Africa by 2050. Other climate changes may include the following:

In the Sahara and Eastern Africa, there may be an increase in rainfall due to tropical cyclones, which could be destructive. In Madagascar in 2018, about 123,000 people were directly or indirectly impacted by Tropical Cyclone Ava, with 24,800 people evacuated, 33 dead, and 22 missing. As the ocean continues to warm, cyclones will become more commonplace.

The permanent glaciers on the Rwenzori Mountains, on the border of Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, are in retreat, and they are under threat of disappearing due to rising temperatures. This could mean increased drought and disease, plus stress on the economy for the local communities.

The projected change in the water cycle in Africa can cause a shift in where and when malaria occurs. Malaria is a disease that is transmitted by the bite of infected mosquitoes. The increased rain in the Sahara and Eastern Africa is predicted to increase the prevalence of mosquitoes. In addition, there is the possibility of an increase of yellow fever and dengue.

Climate change will exacerbate the rate of extinctions of many animals on the African continent, which is home to about one-fifth of all known species of animals on earth. The extent to which biodiversity is threatened is still not fully known, but some major environmental events have been recorded. In 1998, coral reefs off the coast of Africa experienced a massive bleaching event, which affected fisheries and overall biodiversity in the area. Blue green algae blooms in Africa were recently identified as the cause of death of hundreds of elephants. The algae blooms were found in watering holes, and elephants carcassses were discovered in the area. This toxic algae develops in still, warm water.

With predicted population growth and urbanization on the rise, the upward trend in temperatures is poised to have an increasing effect on the populations of many African countries. One model predicts that a third of Africa’s urban population could be living with temperatures as high as 40.6 degrees Celsius (or over 105 Fahrenheit), on a daily basis for four months of the year by the end of the century. To put the threat into perspective, in the U.S. we currently see around 700 deaths per year due to extreme heat — and that is with widely available cooling, early warning systems, and places that people can gather during extreme weather events.

These are just a few of the ways Africa is suffering from problems they have not caused. We, in more developed nations, can help by claiming accountability for our part in climate change and its broad effects worldwide, and by working and advocating to mitigate those effects.

We can not, in this case, be interested in only the effects of climate change on ourselves. We must show love for the people of Africa and the rest of the world, just as we would hope for ourselves if we were in need.

A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. John 13:34-35

One way we can show our love for our sisters and brothers in Africa is by getting our own emissions under control. We can work to do this on all levels — individual, local, state, and national. Another opportunity we have as a nation is to help invest in clean energy globally. The economies of Africa have been on an upward trajectory, and there is a greater need for energy. As the countries grow and continue to develop, there must be a sustainable path devised to fuel their needs.