From flood to famine: Rainfall chaos fuels Africa’s drought crisis

Africanews (in English)

From flood to famine: Rainfall chaos fuels Africa’s drought crisis  Extreme weather events, including heatwaves, droughts, and floods, have increased in frequency by a factor of two or three since 1990 and are expected to intensify further.   READ MORE : http://www.africanews.com/2025/07/04/from-flood-to-famine-rainfall-chaos-fuels-africas-drought-crisis  Subscribe on our Dailymotion channel and receive all the latest news from the continent.    Africanews is available in English and French.  Website : www.africanews.com  Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/africanews.channel/  Twitter : https://twitter.com/africanews

Transcript

00:01Climate change is intensifying water scarcity across Africa while also exacerbating droughts.

00:07Despite a brief uptick in rainfall across the continent, critical water shortages persist.

00:12The diminishing rainfall over the past year has triggered severe ecological, economic and humanitarian impacts.

00:18This trend is projected to continue.

00:20We had very beautiful forests, very beautiful wetlands,

00:24but because of several pressures, these areas were all degraded.

00:31By the time I grew up, at least I saw there was already a can,

00:36but the swamps were intact, the rivers were intact.

00:41We used to have rain washes every day at two.

00:45At such a time we should be having rain.

00:48And then there was to be more rain.

00:51You'd find we have very few months of no rain.

00:54Africa's average surface temperatures have risen steadily across all regions,

00:58with southern Africa experiencing the highest increases.

01:01Rainfall patterns are becoming increasingly unpredictable,

01:04with the Sahel experiencing more rainfall recently,

01:07while central and southern Africa are facing significant drying trends.

01:11Climate crisis is a human rights crisis.

01:14Rising temperatures, rising seas, floods, droughts and wildfires

01:19threaten our rights to life, to health, to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, and much more.

01:27And the heat wave that we are currently experiencing indeed leads us to the adaptability measures that are absolutely necessary,

01:35because otherwise, again, rights would be impacted as a result.

01:37Sea levels along Africa's coast have risen to approximately 20 centimetres since 1900,

01:43and are projected to increase by an additional 35 to 50 centimetres by 2050,

01:48posing a threat to coastal communities.

01:50Extreme weather events, including heat waves, droughts and floods, have increased.

01:53This has all been blamed on the continuous use of fossil fuels.

01:57We need to move away from fossil fuels much faster and completely.

02:02If we want to avoid ever more extreme events,

02:05that also will reach the limits of what societies are able to adapt to.

02:10And not get distracted by discussions of whether it's too late to do this, if not,

02:17or by focusing on things like carbon dioxide removal,

02:22which will not work if we do not have the transition away from fossil fuels.

02:27Central, Northwest, and Northeast Africa face worsening conditions due to ongoing droughts, extreme heat, and above-average temperatures.

02:39These climate-driven factors threaten agriculture ecosystems and hydropowers,

02:46increasing the region's vulnerability to the climate crisis.

02:49Chronic and

03:04Chronic and

03:11Chronicismus

03:16Chronic legislators

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