Climate change is a real and pressing issue affecting the Sahel and Maghreb regions of North and West Africa today. Weather pattern changes are causing desertification and prolonged drought in these regions. The Gulf of Guinea experienced an increase in water temperatures over recent decades, shifting rainclouds in the Sahel farther south. Consequently, between 1996 and 2006, Algeria lost 13,000 km2 of its land to desertification, while Nigeria lost 3,500 km2.
While a characteristic of the Sahel region is variable precipitation, in the second half of the 20th century, the region has experienced a dramatic decrease in average rainfall, as much as a 50% reduction. In addition, droughts occur now in two out of five years, which causes harvests to be highly uncertain.
Detrimental effects from climate change further exacerbate the growing strife and instability of the region, acting as a “threat multiplier.” These effects include increased water scarcity, lack of food security, and increased desertification. These may significantly increase instability in weak or failing states by overstretching governments’ capacities.
Over the next twenty to thirty years, these conditions will fuel the growing threat of Islamic radicalization in the Sahel and Maghreb areas of Africa. This will constitute one of the most important dangers posed to both American and global security.
For the complete article, please see American Security Project
As we step into 2020, time has come to implement the Paris Agreement and raise climate ambition, but the geopolitical tide seems to be against it. The best way forward at this crucial juncture might be to forge a ‘climate coalition of the willing’ – recognising and streamlining actions of all actors at all levels.
For the first time in the survey’s 10-year outlook, the top five global risks in terms of likelihood are all environmental. They are: extreme weather events, failure of climate change mitigation and adaptation, major natural disasters, major biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse, and human-made environmental damage and disasters.
Millions of people across Sub-Saharan Africa could face grave hunger in the first half of 2020 because of armed conflict, political instability and climate change-linked disasters, a report says.
The report published by the UN World Food Programme (WFP) this month says that the countries affected will require life-saving food assistance and investment to prevent humanitarian catastrophes.
Australia is currently experiencing one of its worst bushfire seasons, with swathes of the southern and eastern coastal regions having been ablaze for weeks. As the fires have spread, there has been extensive media coverage both nationally and internationally documenting – and debating – their impacts. This Carbon Brief overview summarises how the fires – and the political response to them – have been covered by the media.