Africa’s ‘once-in-200-year’ heat wave ‘man-made’: study

These five days of intense heat are a once-in-200-year experience.

Dakar:

The deadly heatwave that hit Africa’s Sahel region in early April would not have happened without “human-induced” climate change, according to a study published Thursday by the World Weather Attribution (WWA) organization.

From April 1st to 5th, the West African countries Mali and Burkina Faso experienced an abnormal heat wave, with temperatures soaring above 45 degrees Celsius, resulting in a large number of deaths.

Observations and climate models used by WWA researchers indicate that “the heat waves observed in March and April 2024 would not have been possible in the region without global warming of 1.2 degrees Celsius to date,” which they linked to “human-induced climate change.” “.

While the Sahel region experiences high temperatures at this time of year, the report said April’s heatwave would have been 1.4 degrees Celsius cooler “if humans had not warmed the planet by burning fossil fuels.”

The five days of extreme heat were a once-in-200-year event, but “these trends will continue with future warming,” the report added.

The World Meteorological Organization said that although people in both countries have become accustomed to high temperatures, the duration and severity of extreme heat have led to increased deaths and hospitalizations in both countries.

The World Meteorological Organization said the exact death toll was impossible to know due to a lack of data from affected countries, adding that there could be hundreds or even thousands of other heat-related casualties.

Countries in the Sahel region have faced droughts since the 1970s and heavy rainfall since the 1990s.

Declining water resources and grazing land, coupled with the development of agricultural land, have disrupted pastoralists’ livelihoods and encouraged the emergence of armed groups that have expanded their reach into large swaths of territory in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger.

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