‘Water Is Coming.’ Floods Devastate West and Central Africa | Flooding caused by heavy rains has left more than 1,000 people dead and hundreds of thousands of homes destroyed.

cross-posted from: slrpnk.net/post/13368242

Although Africa produces only a fraction of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, Africans bear an exceptionally heavy burden from climate change, according to the World Meteorological Organization.

And adapting to it will cost sub-Saharan Africa $30 billion to $50 billion annually over the next decade, or 2 to 3 percent of the region’s gross domestic product, it said.

“The impact of climate change is what we’re witnessing right now,” said Olasunkanmi Okunola, a scientist whose study focuses on flood risk management and climate adaptation. “There’s no way we can prevent major disasters from happening, but there are steps we can take to lessen the effect.”