A new report on The Global Climate has identified significant changes in climate in the last five years since 2015, including in Southern Africa, suggesting a renewed threat of climate change impacts and variability.
The report by the World Meteorological Organisation ahead of the United Nations Climate Summit held in New York in September, reveals severe changes in climate in the last five years, including dramatic changes in temperature, sea level rise, and extreme weather events.
Greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere have also increased to record levels, locking in the warming trend for generations to come.
The report shows that 90 percent of natural disasters experienced in the period 2015-2019 are related to weather, with developing countries being the most affected due to limited adaptive capacities.
The weather events include storms and flooding, heat waves and drought that continue to result in human and economic losses.
Such climate extremes disrupt the agricultural economy, hydroelectric production and human settlements, and also affect critical communications and social infrastructure, reversing socio-economic development gains.
Global average temperature has increased by 1,1°C since the pre-industrial period, and by 0,.2°C compared to 2011-2015.
The period 2015-2019 is the warmest on record, with the year 2016 being the warmest year on record globally with over 1°C higher than the pre-industrial period.
The increase in temperatures results in a rise in evaporation loses from reservoirs that support urban, rural, industrial and agricultural water needs in the region.
For example, in 2007, evaporation led to extremely low water levels in most of Zimbabwe’s dams, causing many to be decommissioned.
The region is particularly vulnerable due to its heavy dependence on rain-fed agriculture and climate-sensitive resources.
2019 The Herald