Grim
Outlook for Africa's Future: "Africa accounts for only a tiny
percentage of the fossil fuel emissions that contribute to global
warming, but the continent's poverty leaves it hard-pressed to deal
with the coming catastrophic effects of that warming."
(Via Wired News:
Technology.)
As a Nigerian and African (obviously!) this article strikes very
close to home; especially the reality expressed below:
But even if countries stop polluting today,
researchers argue the effects will be felt for decades to come,
posing what the African Development Bank has singled out as
possibly the greatest long-term threat to poverty eradication
efforts on the continent. Some 770 million Africans — 63 percent —
live in rural areas, and about 40 percent survive on less than a
dollar a day. Most are small-scale farmers. Wood is their major
source of fuel, and medicinal plants their main defense against
disease. Many are already subject to recurring droughts, floods and
soil degradation that can wipe out their livelihoods. Any long term
changes in temperatures and rainfall could fundamentally alter the
landscape in which they live and the production potential on which
they depend.