adminClimate change is a relatively new concept which meteorologists are grappling to unravel but what we know for certain is that its causes emanate from human actions which are detrimental to the environment.
Chlorofluorocarbons released into the atmosphere through such actions as spraying aerosol cans eat into the ozone layer which is responsible for blocking harmful ultraviolet rays from hitting the earth’s surface. The ozone layer therefore acts as some kind of a blanket protecting mother Earth and its inhabitants.
Over the years, massive industrialisation has had a telling effect on the ozone layer while the carbon dioxide released on earth is being trapped by the ozone layer, giving rise to a phenomenon called global warming. While greenhouse gases warm the earth, they are also responsible for altering weather conditions. Weather experts have warned that Zimbabwe will continue to experience droughts, heat waves, floods and unpredictable weather patterns due to climate change caused by human activity.
A Government report recently revealed that about a third of the land that was put under agriculture in Zimbabwe last year was a write-off as crops wilted due to moisture stress. Bulawayo’s five supply dams received insignificant inflows of two percent of their combined capacity in a season whose rainfall was forecast to be average to above average.
The Southern African Regional Climate Outlook Forum (SARCOF)-16 which ran from 13 August and ends today in Harare, is expected to come up with a regional forecast for the 2012/13 rainfall season. But indications are not that encouraging. Already, the effects of climate change in Southern Africa are there to see.
In the past two weeks, the region, particularly South Africa and Zimbabwe, have experienced a sharp drop in temperatures resulting in snow in most parts of South Africa uncharacteristic of this time of the year. Zimbabwe has experienced successive droughts over the past years which have led to crop failure, death of livestock and perennial water problems. Experts have said extreme weather conditions are likely to continue and intensify over the coming years and farmers should find ways of mitigating this phenomenon.
“Our average rainfall pattern is about 657 millimetres but over the past few years, there has been less rainfall owing to climate change caused by the increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. This is an indicator that there will be an increase in intensity and duration of extreme events like floods, heat waves and droughts.
“It is therefore time for all of us to come up with strategies to mitigate climate change because the weather patterns will affect us in many ways,” said Mr Collen Mutasa, a climate change expert from Environment Africa, in a recent interview with Chronicle.
We totally agree with him and urge all stakeholders to find ways of adapting and mitigating climate change such as enhancement of carbon stocks through sustainable management of land use and forestry.
Investing in renewable energy technologies is another way of mitigating climate change while adaptation methods especially for farmers include rain water harvesting, use of irrigation, cross-breeding of livestock and investing in smaller livestock like goats which have higher chances of surviving in drought-prone areas such as Matabeleland.
Mitigation measures include reduction of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, methane, water vapour and sulphur. In this debate on climate change, we feel developed countries have a bigger role than smaller developing nations such as Zimbabwe because they emit more greenhouse gases through their more heavily industrialised economies.
The Kyoto Protocol mandated developed countries to reduce gas emissions by 5,2 percent less than what they were emitting in 1990 but richer countries are instead discouraging developing nations such as China, Brazil, India and South Africa from making rapid developments.
Climate change is real and affecting us in a big way and it is time there was sincerity in tackling this phenomenon. If climate change-related catastrophes like floods and famine cannot compel us to act, then the future of the entire world is bleak. We need to do more to curtail carbon emissions and find better ways of mitigating and adapting to climate change. The lives of future generations depend on it.
Online Reporter