Abstract
In combination with ignorance, incompetence, and poor governance, climate change has become a serious threat to the greatness of Africa. Beyond that, climate change poses a problem to global security but has deeper impacts on the world's most vulnerable populations. This chapter reviews archival information to analyse the vulnerability of Africa vis-à-vis climate change, for which it is partly a cause. Also, it assesses the victimization and Africans' adaptation practices. The chapter argues that entrenched poverty, traditional practices, and lack of faith in research discoveries increase the exposure of Africans to climate change and intensify their inability to respond competently to its inherent victimization. To boost her adaptation, this chapter suggests that Africa should reinvent social alignment with its communities and build climate-friendly attitudes to prepare for environmental calamities that may arise from climate variation.
TopBackground
Studies show that the African continent is prone to climate change and variation with prolonged droughts, decreased rainfall, and intensified temperature (Kurukulasuriya, Mendelsohn, et al., 2006). Also, African countries face more intense structural economic vulnerability than other developing countries (Guillaumont, 2007). The geographical characteristics of Africa with a large portion of its landmass being warm tropics and its inadequate human, social, and economic capacity make it incumbent on Africans to adapt to the influences of climate variation (Filho, et al., 2015). In terms of demographics, increasing populations will accelerate the rate that water and food are consumed. Extreme events including droughts will increase the demand for water resources, which are already limited. This will also have negative multiplier effects on crop harvests (CDKN, 2014). Incessant poverty and socioeconomic inequality, low levels of development, limited economic capacity and weak governance all combine to worsen the limited capacity of Africa to adapt to climate change. All these risks further challenge development and undermine the achievements made to decrease poverty and inequality (Shackleton, et al., 2015).
Key Terms in this Chapter
Livelihoods: The means by which individuals earn legitimate incomes in a society.
Tradition: The transmission of norms and values from one generation to the other.
Poor Governance: The unrewarding way by which some countries manage the resources, systems, and individuals, at their highest levels.
Exposure: The state of being unprotected against some forms of harm in an environment.
Climate: The typical weather of a place.
Victimization: A hostile treatment meted out by a powerful person to a weaker person.
Weather: The variations experienced in human’s daily interactions with the environments.
Adaptation: The process in which individuals adjust to their changing environment.
Climate Change: A change in the customary weather of a geographical location.