Changing Africa
June 30th, 2005
(June 30, 2005) Global warming could drastically alter Africa?s southern sand dune systems, spreading desert-like conditions and destroying the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of people before the end of the century, new research warns. Large parts of interior southern Africa stretching from northern South Africa to Angola, Zambia and beyond are made up of stabilized sand dunes.
Research presented in June in the scientific journal Nature predicts widespread reactivation of these dunes as average rainfall declines, droughts increase and wind strengths pick up in the coming decades ? conditions last seen 14,000-16,000 years ago.
The research is published as British Prime Minister Tony Blair prepares to host the Group of Eight summit focusing on African issues and climate change. The study, conducted by British-based researchers David Thomas, Giles Wiggs and Melanie Knight, considered a number of different scenarios for climate change and emissions levels. (MSNBC /World News/World Environment)
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