Sea Level Rise May Erode Development in Africa

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https://eos.org/articles/sea-level-rise-may-erode-development-in-africa

Source: By Hope Mafaranga, Eos/AGU. 

Excerpt: Sea level rise and extreme weather associated with climate change are threats to human health, safety, food and water security, and socioeconomic development in Africa, climate change experts said in a new report. “Climate change is having a growing impact on the African continent, hitting the most vulnerable hardest, and contributing to food insecurity, population displacement and stress on water resources. In recent months, we have seen devastating floods, an invasion of desert locusts and now face the looming specter of drought because of a La Niña events,” said Petteri Taalas, secretary-general of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), when introducing the 2019–2020 “State of the Climate in Africa.” ...Sea level rise associated with climate change includes an increase in coastal erosion and saltwater intrusion in drinking, hygiene, and irrigation supplies. Such phenomena pose a threat to Africa’s coastal regions, said Vera Songwe, United Nations (UN) under secretary-general and executive secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa, at the WMO event. Songwe said sea level increase exceeded 5 mm per year in the southwestern Indian Ocean along Africa’s east coast. The region’s island nations, including Madagascar and Mauritius, are particularly vulnerable. It is Africa’s west coast, however, that is expected to see the biggest impact.... 

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