The Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Working Group 1, a UN body tasked with providing scientific information on climate change on the 9th of August 2021, released its 6th assessment report, titled “Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis”. It’s such a powerful report, confirming fears about worsening climate disasters in the next decade bringing not only physical destruction, but terrifying personal experiences of lost homes, rampant diseases and other unprecedented suffering. According to the report, the world is fast reaching the internationally agreed 1.5 degrees Celsius threshold; irreversible damage to the planet and people is therefore, looming close each day.
Key findings in the report indicate that global warming (driven mostly by human activity) is evident with each of the last four decades being successively warmer than the previous. In the same report, the panel –– says average rainfall has increased since the mid-20th century, as have sea levels. The increase in wet extremes has far reaching effects on nearly all socio-economic sectors, from agriculture, water, environment to infrastructure. These are some of the key sectors in socioeconomic development.
This – compounded by growing populations – gives a worrying picture of the challenges that lie ahead for Africa. This is likely to widen the existing development gap, calling for concerted effort to strengthen response mechanisms to future challenges posed by climate change.
These trends can be slowed by reducing greenhouse gases immediately, by replacing fossil fuels you use today to renewable sustainable alternatives. We therefore, encourage you to read and share this report with your networks, and speak to your governments about your thoughts on curbing greenhouse gases emissions. The report can be downloaded here.
