Africa's glaciers to melt, millions of poor face drought, floods, UN says
October 19, 2021
2:28 AM CDT
Last Updated a minute ago
By Tim Cocks
2 minute read
JOHANNESBURG, Oct 19 (Reuters) - Africa's fabled eastern glaciers will vanish in two decades, 118 million poor people face immanent drought, floods or extreme heat, and climate change could also shave 3% off continental GDP by mid-century, the U.N. climate agency warned on Tuesday.
The latest report on the state of Africa's climate by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), partnered with African Union agencies, paints a dire picture of the continent's ability to adapt to increasingly frequent weather disasters.
According to one data set, 2020 was Africa's third warmest year on record, 0.86 degrees Celsius above the average temperature in the three decades leading to 2010. It has mostly warmed slower than high-latitude temperate zones, but the impact is still devastating.
"The rapid shrinking of the last remaining glaciers in eastern Africa, which are expected to melt entirely in the near future, signals the threat of ... irreversible change to the Earth system," WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas said in a foreword to the report.
More:
https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/africas-glaciers-melt-millions-poor-face-drought-floods-un-says-2021-10-19/?rpc=401&
