Scientists say human driven climate change made southern Africa floods far worse after extreme rains submerged Mozambique killed hundreds and highlighted deep climate inequality across the region study finds Thursday
Human-driven climate change has actively worsened devastating floods across southern Africa, scientists said Thursday, after parts of the region saw nearly a year’s worth of rain fall in just 10 days.
Reporting from Johannesburg, AFP said relentless rains since December have submerged large areas of Mozambique, affecting more than 250,000 people, while floods have also caused deaths and widespread damage in neighbouring South Africa and Zimbabwe.
An international team of scientists from the World Weather Attribution said in a new analysis that human-caused climate change significantly intensified the impacts of the 10-day spell of extreme rainfall.
Between January 10 and 19, southern Mozambique, especially the worst-hit Gaza province, recorded 500 millimetres of rain or more, roughly equivalent to the area’s average annual rainfall, the report said.
“Human-induced climate change increased rainfall intensity by around 40 percent,” said Izidine Pinto, a climate expert at the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute.
Speaking at a press conference, Pinto said the combination of intense rainfall over a short period, high exposure and visible damage had turned the event into Mozambique’s most severe flood in 25 years.
The cold-phase climate phenomenon La Nina, which typically brings above-average rainfall to southern Africa, was responsible for about 22 percent of the rainfall intensity, the scientists added.
Mozambique’s National Institute for Disaster Management said nearly 140 people have died in floods since October 1. Riverbanks have burst in several areas, cutting off road connections and isolating communities.
In South Africa, floods in Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces have killed more than 30 people and damaged valuable assets, including parts of the famed Kruger National Park.
Friederike Otto, professor of climate science at Imperial College London, described the disaster as a stark example of “climate inequality”.
She said South Africa, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Eswatini have contributed little to global climate change and have not benefited from oil, gas or coal sales, yet are losing lives, homes and livelihoods as a result.
