Poor record of climate change issues in Africa has deterred actions to combat the increasing heatwaves and extreme weather events that have continually challenge countries on the continent.
Scientists acknowledged that efficient data is crucial for adequate measures and actions but they are concerned that this is lacking on the continent.
The location of Africa in the centre of the equatorial tropics has made the continent the hottest where millions of people are experiencing a growing threat from climate change. This is not adequately recorded owing to poor tracking of the impacts.
Poor records of environmental issues, according to the founder, Osoma Agro Services, Dayo Anjorin, has consequences for farmers as it will impact their preparation and yields.
An instance of this is a wide gap in information on Africa when compared to the Advanced economies on climate change issues on EM-DAT, the international disaster database.
Data on EM-DAT from the beginning of 2020 to the present time shows a record of 321 global disasters of which only 60 was recorded for Africa.
The co-author of Nature Climate Change, and also, the acting director of the University of Oxford Environmental Change Institute, Friederike Otto felt events in Africa are not well and fully captured
Citing the EM-DAT report, she noted that coordinated reporting is lacking in the continent and, at the global level, while research and tracking of the impacts of climate change are biased toward developed countries.
“Africa is warming faster than the global average, and the lack of data is a roadblock to effective disaster preparation, assessment of vulnerability, and planning for climate resilience, said, Friederike Otto.
In Nigeria alone, climate change is evident with the increases in temperature – heat waves, variable rainfall, rise in sea level, flooding, drought and desertification, and extreme weather events that have all led to the loss of farmlands, low harvest from fishing that is now constituting a danger to biodiversity.
Earlier, it was reported that due to flooding, farmers in northern Nigeria had lost more than two million tons of rice, a quarter of the country’s projected harvest. Meanwhile, in the South, the shortage of rainfall has led to low yields of crops.
During the review, Otto said “It is strange that there are no heat waves in Africa. This cannot be right. Parts of Africa are hot spots, why are they not in these databases? If there are no records of the extreme heat events, and when we completely ignore the impacts, it will be impossible to adapt adequately”.
The EM-DAT database includes information on all disasters going back to 1900 that killed 10 people or more and that triggered a state of emergency or a call for international assistance.
Under the extreme weather damage databases, EM-DAT record no significant heat waves impact in sub-Saharan since 1900, yet the region has experienced a number of heatwaves and is affected disproportionately under climate change.
She called addressing the reported discrepancy as it is crucial to access the impacts of future extreme heat.
Corroborating her, Co-author Luke Harrington, also with the Environmental Change Institute, said observations from weather stations and climate models show intensifying heatwaves in Sub-Saharan Africa.
“But these heat waves are not being recorded. It is as if they have not happened, but we know they have”, he said.
Heatwave leads to prolonged hot and dry conditions which bake the ground hard and if there is sudden, significant rainfall, the ground will not be able to soak up the water. Instead, the deluge could overcome drainage or sewerage systems.
Although there had been forecasts by Nigerian Meteorological Agency, (NiMET), Anjorin, however, said they have not served farmers well.
“From their predictions and warnings, we were told to expect torrents of rainfall from July. However, what we experienced was heavy rainfall for some weeks, followed by a long break”
Owing to this, the Osoma Agro Services Boss said there was improper planning by the farmers which led to the loss of crops, an increase in the selling price, just to mention a few.
“We really need accurate data to get optimum yield so as to prevent food insecurity in the country, especially in 2021”.
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