The impacts of climate change on African continent and the way forward

Abstract

This paper reviews several studies on the impacts of climate change on developing countries in Africa, one of the most vulnerable continents due to lack of financial, technical and institutional capacity to cope with the impacts of climate change. Due to various anthropogenic activities, greenhouse gases are increasing in the atmosphere at an alarming rate which leads to extreme temperature and flooding, loss of soil fertility, low agricultural productions (both crops and livestock’s), biodiversity loss, risk of water stress, and prevalence of various diseases. It is predicted that the temperature in Africa continent will rise by 2 to 6°C over the next 100 years. In terms of economic, the Sub-Saharan Africa will lose a total of US$26 million by 2060 due to climate change. The increasing occurrence of flooding and drought is also another predicted problem for Africa. Climate change can set back development of nations. Even though African countries are working on adaptation and mitigation options to minimize the adverse effects, climate change is expected to cause large damage to their economy. Thus, climate change adaptation and mitigation options require greater attention to ensure future food security and well-being of African peoples.