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SA setting 'poor example'
16/05/2007 08:33 - (SA)
Johannesburg - Rising temperatures in
Africa are blamed for droughts, floods and storms while the
continent's fabled wildlife is struggling to adapt to shifting
ecosystems that could lead to mass extinctions.
Scientists say Africa - the world's poorest continent - is
already paying a high price for global climate change and must
now figure out what it can do itself to slow the transformation.
"There has been an observable upward trend in temperatures
in parts of Africa, for example in parts of eastern and central
Africa and the (southern African) Cape area, as well as emergent
water shortages in western Chad and Darfur regions," said
Professor Bob Scholes of South Africa's Centre for Scientific
and Industrial Research.
"Apart from these factors we have also witnessed an upward
spread in bird and fish species, such as the savannah birds,
which have migrated due to warmer temperatures."
Experts say global warming may be to blame for the gradual
melting of snow atop Tanzania's famed Mt Kilimanjaro, while
Babagana Ahmadu, the African Union's director of rural economy
and agriculture, says there is evidence that Lake Victoria, Lake
Chad and parts of the Nile River are all gradually drying up due
to warmer temperatures.
Harald Winkler of the University of Cape Town's Energy
Research Centre said African countries could not wait to see if
richer countries take action on climate change - although
Africa's own options were limited.
SA committed to the fight
"While developing countries rightly point to the historical
responsibility of industrialised countries, ultimately the
problem will come back to haunt us," he said.
"Poor countries and poor communities are particularly
vulnerable to the impacts of climate change."
Activists say South Africa, the continent's economic
powerhouse, has thus far failed to do much to address its own
emissions problems, a poor example to other African countries.
It is rated as Africa's largest emitter of harmful
greenhouse gases, with the International Energy Agency saying it
released 318 million tons of carbon dioxide - the major
greenhouse gas - in 2003.
South Africa says it is committed to the fight against
global warming but the government's desire to ramp up economic growth has at times clashed with its environmental ideals.
The United States released 5 871 million tons during the
same year.
Scientists and international aid agencies say Africa's
contribution to greenhouse gasses is "negligible" compared to
that of other continents - with the average African generating
13 times less in harmful emissions than the average North
American.
But the continent has no time to lose to come up with a
survival strategy.
More money, resources needed
Professor Bruce Hewitson, a specialist in climatology at the
University of Cape Town, said many African countries did not
have the cash to meet the emission reduction target of the 2005
Kyoto Protocol on climate change.
"The major challenge for developing countries is that they
need more money and resources to help them fight the potentially
devastating effects of climate change," Hewitson said.
The United Nations has already set up a Special Climate
Change Fund to finance research, technology and capacity
building to stem the effects in developing countries.
But experts say the fund has done little to address climatic
effects in poor countries, leaving some African nations such as
Kenya looking at grassroots approaches such as planting more
trees in a desperate effort to slow rising temperatures.
The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
warned on May 4 that global emission of greenhouse gases, widely
blamed for warming temperatures, would continue to rise over the
next few decades - spelling more trouble for Africa.
Close to 1.8 million more Africans are expected to find
themselves without adequate clean water, leading to an increase
in poverty and pandemics such as malaria and cholera as well as
the spread of arid and semi-arid lands, hitting food production,
the IPCC report said.
The IPCC said developing countries did have some tools to
help fight climate change, including switching to gas from coal
for energy generation and improved land management to increase
soil carbon storage.
But with Asian giants such as India and China - now
expected to surpass the United States as the world's largest
greenhouse gas emitter - Africa's future may lie in its ability
to persuade developed countries to take more responsibility.
- Reuters
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