This is Scott Amyx with today’s Climate Change Flash Briefing.
Last week the Tropical Cyclone Idai tore through Mozambique. An estimated 1.85 million people were affected by the cyclone. The city of Beira with its some 500,000 residents is said to be 90 percent destroyed. As many as 1,000 people are estimated to be dead. 3,000 people have been rescued but there are still 15,000 people that are unaccounted for. Some 394 square km or 152 square miles of Mozambique has been flooded.
To put this in perspective, according to NOAA, there have been only three tropical cyclones that have made landfall in Mozambique at that intensity since the use of satellites began in 1966.
Mozambique and Malawi are two of the poorest countries in Africa. More than 80 percent of the population of Mozambique lives on less than two dollars per day. The authorities are warning of water-borne diseases.
While the east coast of Africa was hit by the massive cyclone, on the west coast, there’s been a major Saharan dust storm. These dust storms cause acute upper respiratory illness, heart issues and spreads infectious disease. The dusts stifle crop yields because it blocks out the sun and covers the crop with dust.
Africa is experiencing two extreme climate-related issues simultaneously, wet and dry. The severity of these increasing climate change events poses a serious threat to one of the most populous continents on the planet with very little infrastructure to withstand the challenges. If you have not already, consider making a donation to one of the NGO relief funds.
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