Extreme rainfall recorded in Sudan, Cameroon, Niger, Nigeria and Chad this year marks a heightened stage in Africa’s climatic vulnerability. According to research by World Weather Attribution (WWA), such floods, which killed roughly 2,000 people and displaced millions more in recent months, are increasingly frequent events linked to anthropogenic global warming. The WWA team has used observational data and climate models to demonstrate that the probability and intensity of extreme precipitation in these regions have increased, and these events are no longer rare. “Due to high temperatures, the probability of such extreme precipitation has doubled, with an increase in intensity of around 10%. This means that even rainfall once considered normal can now cause catastrophic effects,” Izidine Pinto, researcher at the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute and lead author of WWA research published in October, told Mongabay in an interview. The study, which focuses on Sudan, is an example of an “extreme event attribution,” in which scientists determine the degree to which weather events are influenced by climate change. This report follows on the heels of WWA research published in 2022 examining “nearly identical’’ flooding conditions in the wider region that year. WWA researchers note that socioeconomic and political factors in the region intensify the situation. While climate change had a distinct role in the flooding, “The devastating impacts were further exacerbated by the proximity of human settlements, infrastructure (homes, buildings, bridges), and agricultural land to flood plains, underlying vulnerabilities driven by high poverty rates and socioeconomic factors (e.g. gender, age,…This article was originally published on Mongabay
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