From Cairo to the Cape, climate change begins to take hold of Africa
As ministers and some heads of state arrive for the serious negotiations of the UN climate talks in Durban, from Cairo to the Cape, the impact of man-made climate change is already being felt, according to the Guardian. Farmers, people in cities, local scientists and governments all tell a remarkably similar story - that there is evidence of more extreme and unseasonal weather taking place outside the natural variability and cycles of African climate, and that the poorest communities are the least able to adapt.
"Climate change is a massive problem for developing countries because people are less resistant to shocks and cannot adapt," says Guy Jobbins, a Cairo-based British water scientist who heads Canada's International Development Research Centre climate change adaptation programme for Africa.