Heavy rains continued falling throughout parts of southern Africa in mid- and late March 2011. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs OCHA described flood-affected districts extending from Angola and Mozambique southward to South Africa. Across northern Namibia, nearly 5,000 people were forced to evacuate. Flood waters damaged both crops and infrastructure.Evidence [...]
Tag Archives: Africa
Heavy rains have South Africa facing worst floods in decades
Heavy rains fell across southern Africa in early 2011. By early February, river flooding in South Africa alone had killed 91 people and caused over $100 million in damage, the United Nations stated. Times Live reported that the government had issued flood warnings for areas along the Orange, South Africa’s longest river. Groblershoop was among [...]
Zamebezi nears record levels, for the 3rd time in 10 years
Above average rainfall across many parts of Southern Africa is prompting concern “about the food security of the affected population in the poorer parts of the sub-region over the coming months,” the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said in a new report. “With the rainy season still only halfway through, and with the cyclone [...]
Skyrocketing food prices fueled by unusual extreme weather provided spark for Tunisian revolution
In this surprising people power revolt that exploded in the new year, the usual recipe for an uprising was at play – fundamental underlying issues like repression, autocratic rule, corruption and growing unemployment. But the trigger or the immediate cause, significantly, was fuel and food, especially rising food prices. The rising food prices that shook [...]
East Africa Climate Conflict: video
The future for the tribes of the Omo-Turkana basin looks bleak. Temperatures in the region have risen by about 2 degrees F since 1960. Droughts are occurring with a frequency and intensity not seen in recent memory. Areas once prone to drought every ten or eleven years are now experiencing a drought every two or [...]
Niger Basin losing water
The Niger Basin is gradually reducing in water level because of increased impacts of climate change and human pressure of increased water usage, says the Secretary to the Government of the Federation SGF, Yayale Ahmed.Speaking at a meeting of the Council of Ministers for the 9th Summit of Heads of States in Abuja recently, the [...]
New, unpredictable weather driving migration, conflict in East Africa
An assessment of pastoralists in the Horn and East African finds that “The effects of climate change and its impact on pastoral communities are now more conspicuous than ever with evidence pointing to increasing levels of migration and conflict over often scarce resources.” An 80 year old Pastoralist Bote Bora in Isiolo Kenya summed it [...]
Unprecedented heat wave in Africa, Asia sets more all-time highs
Extreme heat wave in Africa and Asia continues to set all-time high temperature recordsA withering heat wave of unprecedented intensity and areal covered continues to smash all-time high temperatures Asia and Africa. As I reported earlier this week, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Chad, Niger, Pakistan, and Myanmar have all set new records for their hottest temperatures [...]
Extreme heat wave sets all-time high records in Africa and Middle East
Welcom Extreme heat wave sets all-time high temperature records in Africa and Middle EastA withering heat wave of unprecedented intensity and areal covered has smashed all-time high temperatures in four nations in the Middle East and Africa over the past week. Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Chad, and Niger all set new records for their hottest temperatures [...]
Temperature up, water supply down in Tanzania
AVAILABILITY of water in the country has been decreasing over the years due to a number of factors including increased demand. The Minister for Water and Irrigation, Prof Mark Mwandosya, said here on Wednesday that the shortage was also caused by climate change which led to a rise of temperatures, drought and decreased levels of [...]
