CBC News
EXETER - Global warming could hit millions of Africans hardest, an international conference on climate change heard Wednesday.
Nigerian scientist Tony Nyong said agricultural production in sub-Saharan Africa could drop by up to a third within 60 years because of changes in rainfall patterns and longer dry seasons, while warmer water could all but wipe out coastal fisheries.
G-8 countries produced nearly half of the world's carbon dioxide emissions in 1999, including through car exhausts.
"All the present studies indicate that Africa will be worst affected," Nyong , an environmental scientist at Nigeria's University of Jos and member of the UN's top panel on climate change, told Agence France Presse.
Nigerian scientist Tony Nyong said agricultural production in sub-Saharan Africa could drop by up to a third within 60 years because of changes in rainfall patterns and longer dry seasons, while warmer water could all but wipe out coastal fisheries.
G-8 countries produced nearly half of the world's carbon dioxide emissions in 1999, including through car exhausts.
"All the present studies indicate that Africa will be worst affected," Nyong , an environmental scientist at Nigeria's University of Jos and member of the UN's top panel on climate change, told Agence France Presse.
Temperatures could rise by two degrees and rainfall drop by 10 per cent by 2050 if trends continue, scientists warned on the second day of the scientific forum on climate change.
The resulting droughts and poor harvests could threaten as many as 100 million Africans with starvation, Nyong warned.
One study suggests that as many as 5.2 million people in South Africa alone could get malaria as mosquitoes migrate to previously dry areas.
"What makes Africa vulnerable is not just climate change but also poverty, AIDS and subsistence dependence on the ecosystem," he said.
"All of these add to the challenge of adapting to climate change."
Africa, followed by South Asia, may be affected most by climate change within the next few decades, but no part of the world will be spared, the three-day conference heard.
The chairman of the UN climate change panel, Rajendra Pachauri, quoted a 1993 study that forecast rising sea levels, storms, floods or droughts might create as many as 150 million "environmental refugees."
The study predicated that a sixth of Bangladesh could permanently disappear under rising seas, while persistent floods could displace 30 million in India alone.
Nyong called on rich countries to cut their emissions of greenhouse gases, noting that the G-8 countries alone accounted for nearly half of the world's carbon dioxide emissions in 1999.
Scientists say climate warming is caused by carbon dioxide and other gases, mostly generated through human activities such as driving cars and generating electricity.
The conference was organized by Britain's Environment Department. Prime Minister Tony Blair has promised to make Africa and the fight against climate change top priorities in his presidency of the G-8 this year.
The resulting droughts and poor harvests could threaten as many as 100 million Africans with starvation, Nyong warned.
One study suggests that as many as 5.2 million people in South Africa alone could get malaria as mosquitoes migrate to previously dry areas.
"What makes Africa vulnerable is not just climate change but also poverty, AIDS and subsistence dependence on the ecosystem," he said.
"All of these add to the challenge of adapting to climate change."
Africa, followed by South Asia, may be affected most by climate change within the next few decades, but no part of the world will be spared, the three-day conference heard.
The chairman of the UN climate change panel, Rajendra Pachauri, quoted a 1993 study that forecast rising sea levels, storms, floods or droughts might create as many as 150 million "environmental refugees."
The study predicated that a sixth of Bangladesh could permanently disappear under rising seas, while persistent floods could displace 30 million in India alone.
Nyong called on rich countries to cut their emissions of greenhouse gases, noting that the G-8 countries alone accounted for nearly half of the world's carbon dioxide emissions in 1999.
Scientists say climate warming is caused by carbon dioxide and other gases, mostly generated through human activities such as driving cars and generating electricity.
The conference was organized by Britain's Environment Department. Prime Minister Tony Blair has promised to make Africa and the fight against climate change top priorities in his presidency of the G-8 this year.
No comments:
Post a Comment