impact du changement climatique au cameroun
préambule.
In Cameroon, there are 2 types of climate. 2 to 4 seasons, which can be broken down as follows:
- Tropical climate
- The main rainy season from November to March
- The great dry season from April to October
2. Equatorial climate
- The great dry season from December to April.
- The great rainy season from May to July.
- The short dry season from August to September.
- The short wet season from October to November.
Over the period 1989-2014, North America emitted 147 billion Kilotonnes of CO2 while the African continent emitted only 25 billion Kilotonnes. The African continent is home to 17% of the world's population. But it is responsible for only 3.5% of greenhouse gas emissions. Nevertheless, climate change is hitting the African continent hard. Africa is suffering the consequences of global industrial development in spite of itself.
the effects
In Cameroon, the increase in the continent/ocean thermal gradient causes an increase in surface evaporation, air humidity, atmospheric instability and therefore an intensification of rainfall. This phenomenon leads to an increasingly significant shift in the seasonal cycle. Although the latest IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) reports speak of a decrease in precipitation, an increase in extreme phenomena is emerging.
Torrential rains, floods, very strong winds in the middle of storms (Douala Nov. 2022) and even cyclones (Idai in 2019 in Mozambique). According to the United Nations, coastal cities are on the front line of the climate crisis. And threatened by rising sea levels and coastal erosion. Moreover, what applies to rainfall also applies to longer and more intense periods of drought.
consequences
Climate change and associated extreme events are severely and permanently destabilising the socio-economic stability of countries:
- Health through the persistence of diseases such as cholera, dysentery, malaria, dengue, yellow fever and a proliferation of insects.
- Food security is not spared: Declining agricultural yields and herd fertility.
- Intensification of poverty and massive displacement of populations from rural areas to the metropolises (increase of 4 to 5% of the urban population per year) whose development is becoming increasingly chaotic. The World Bank estimates that more than 100,000 people join the population of Douala each year. They settle wherever they can: On non-buildable areas. On the valley floor (Maképé Missoké) vulnerable to flooding or in mangrove areas destroying an ecosystem that is essential to fight against coastal erosion.
With climate change, the city of Douala, which is located at the mouth of the Wouri River estuary, is influenced by the tides of the Atlantic Ocean (coastal erosion of 3 to 6 metres per year). In addition, it is confronted with rising water levels.
- The rains and floods have a disastrous effect on road networks. They degrade tarred roads and make tracks impassable, thus isolating many villages and countries such as Chad and Central Africa, whose export base is Cameroon.
- Pollution and siltation: If there is one dramatic pollution, as in Douala, it is plastic pollution. Although the city has a drainage system and the government has built almost 40 kilometres of drainage channels, the pollution is not a problem,
rubbish and soil washed up during the rainy season accumulate in all the networks, undermining the efforts made.
conclusion
Le changement climatique est un vecteur contribuant grandement à l’amplification de la paupérisation des déplacements massifs. De maladies qui augmentent le nombre d’orphelins, d’handicapés physique et de déshérités. Notre association (FFCA) does everything it can to assist them.
