New research on climate change demonstrates that a large swath of the African continent would become dangerously hot with a projected 2.7°C global temperature rise, including more than 300 million people in Nigeria—the most vulnerable nation, after India, if efforts to limit warming to 1.5°C fail. Sudan, Niger and Burkina…
Laureen is the editor of Africa Times
Climate change may be contributing to a rise in maritime piracy, according to a new study from criminologists based in Macau and the United States. The researchers looked at 15 years of data on piracy attacks in the South China Sea and along the East African coastline, in places like…
Laureen is the editor of Africa Times
Climate change is expected to disproportionately affect the Middle East and North Africa states with high heat and drought, but most of the heat-related deaths expected with the temperature rise can be avoided if global warming is limited to the 2°C target. That’s according to a new modeling study published…
Laureen is the editor of Africa Times
Africa’s largest hydropower dam, the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, is the focal point of still-unresolved tensions between Ethiopia, neighboring Sudan and downstream Egypt because of impacts to Nile River water resources. Most recently, talks in Egypt included the GERD diplomatic impasse during a visit from Tony Blinken, the United States…
Laureen is the editor of Africa Times
Charlot Magayi used to sell charcoal for cooking in the Nairobi slum community of Mukuru where she grew up. Today, she’s the recipient of a 2022 Earthshot Prize for her work on climate and the promotion of clean cooking alternatives. Magayi, founder of Mukuru Clean Stoves, was one of five…
As the COP27 climate conference begins in Egypt, participants in the “Running Out of Time” relay are closing in on their final destination of Sharm el-Sheikh with a message of urgency on climate action. The relay route has covered 18 countries, beginning in Glasgow, Scotland—site of COP26 last year—and winding…
With the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) set to begin in Egypt, global public health experts are focusing on the climate impacts to human health, especially on the African continent. Flooding in South Sudan, food insecurity across the Sahel, and spikes in Ebola and other disease outbreaks are…
As East Africa faces its ongoing drought challenges, the dwindling resources can sometimes cause unusual impacts to wildlife. That was the case in Kenya last week, when two elephants got stuck in the mud that was left behind as water levels became low at a dam near the Tanzanian border….
In a bid to adapt to climate change and provide cheaper electricity to the general population, Zimbabwe is boosting solar power, and to a lesser extent hydropower, as part of a government programme to cut energy-related emissions by about a third before the end of the decade. Authorities have set…
In recent weeks, Chad became the latest country to declare a food emergency as several African nations battle against one of the worst climate-induced emergencies on record. With the devastating effects of climate change already reverberating throughout the continent, Africa’s need to develop resilient structures is as urgent as ever….
People living in southern Angola are experiencing the worst drought in 40 years, with many crossing the border into Namibia in search of resources and relief after consecutive years of below-average rainfall affecting their crops. The International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC) says the Angolan provinces of Huila, Cunene…
Catastrophic flooding that followed heavy rains in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal has claimed at least 259 lives, according to the disaster management agency leading the emergency response. The rains that began late Monday swamped roadways, stressed dams, and brought towering walls of mud and water down on the…
There’s disappointment and anger over the now-concluded COP26 climate negotiations in Glasgow, with firm commitments on coal phaseouts removed from final-draft language at the objection of developing nations. South Africa, China, India and others made a successful case for a softer commitment and longer timeline on coal. Those changes come…
President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya vowed to make Africa’s voice on climate finance heard at the COP26 United Nations Climate Conference in Glasgow, Scotland on Monday. “Two times in a row, developing countries have been promised US$100 billion per year but it has not yet been delivered,” said Kenyatta, speaking…
By Ousmane Diagana On the shores of the coastal Senegalese city of Saint Louis, climate change is no longer a distant threat. It is already a current issue impacting its people. Hundreds of them have had to flee the devastating effects of rising sea levels and erosion, losing their livelihoods,…