GLOBAL warming has intensified the rainy season in many African countries this year, scientists said today.
The scientists say the latest impact of the climate emergency has sparked deadly flooding across the African continent.
The World Weather Attribution (WWA) network said human-driven climate change, caused by the use of fossil fuels, has made seasonal rains across the Niger and Lake Chad basins 5-20 per cent worse in 2024.
Izidine Pinto, a researcher at the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute and one of the study’s authors, said: “These results are incredibly concerning.”
He said “spells of heavy summer rainfall” had become the “new normal” in Sudan, Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon and Chad.
Dr Pinto added: “With every fraction of a degree of warming, the risk of extreme floods will keep increasing.”
Dr Pinto said it was vital that the United Nations Cop29 speeds up “the transition away from fossil fuels” when it meets in Azerbaijan next month.
Floods in west and central Africa were responsible for the deaths of around 1,500 people and the displacement of more than one million, according to UN aid agency OCHA.
The scientists said the situation could worsen across Africa if global temperatures increase to 2°C (3.6°F) above pre-industrial levels.
The network’s scientists focused on the civil war in Sudan, where millions of displaced people have been uprooted by conflict and driven from their homes into flood-prone areas.
Joyce Kimutai, researcher at the Centre for Environmental Policy at Imperial College in London, said: “Africa has contributed a tiny amount of carbon emissions globally, but is being hit the hardest by extreme weather.”
The scientists said the role of climate change in the floods was made worse by poor maintenance of dams and lack of investment in early warning systems.
Clair Barnes, of the Centre for Environmental Policy, said: “This is only going to keep getting worse if we keep burning fossil fuels.”
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