Tiempo Climate Newswatch

Megadroughts lasting centuries have affected West Africa frequently in the past and future events may be made worse by global warming, warn researchers in the United States. "Clearly, much of West Africa is already on the edge of sustainability, and the situation could become much more dire in the future with increased global warming," said Jonathan Overpeck of the University of Arizona in Tucson. The research was based on analysis of sediment cores from Lake Bosumtwi in southern Ghana.

As many as 100,000 people died in the drought that affected the Sahel from the late 1960s to the early 1980s. "What's disconcerting about [the sediment core] record is that it suggests that the most recent drought was relatively minor in the context of the West African drought history," commented Timothy Shanahan from the University of Texas at Austin. "What's really striking about droughts in this area is that they last such a long time," he said. "You have droughts that last 30 to 60 years, and then some that last four times as long." "If the region were to shift into one of these droughts it would be very difficult for people to adapt... we need to develop an adaptation policy," he continued.

The Brazilian government has announced that companies operating fossil fuel-based power plants will have to plant trees to compensate for their carbon emissions. The new requirements will contribute to the goals of the National Climate Change Plan. "It must be remembered that the Environment Ministry is not creating a new cost for the plants," said environment minister Carlos Minc. "This cost has always existed, but it now must be paid by all society."

Preliminary estimates suggest that a 100 MW/h power plant, operating during 25 per cent of the year, would have to plant up to 600 trees. This, though, would only cover a proportion of its emissions. The remaining emissions would have to be covered by investment in clean energy. The Environment Ministry forecasts that, by the year 2017, the power sector will have planted an additional three million trees. The power plants will have to manage the newly planted forest areas sustainably, maintaining responsibility for them for up to ten years.

Apa Sherpa is climbing Mount Everest with a climate conservation message for the world. "This is my 19th climb to the top of the world. During the last 18 ascents, I have seen a measurable difference in the climatic conditions there," he said. "The disastrous impacts of climate change are visible in the Everest region," he continued. "It is a warning to mankind before it reaches a tipping point."

Climbing leader of Eco Everest Expedition 2009, Apa Sherpa is carrying a WWF banner with the inscription "Stop Climate Change - Let the Himalayas Live!" and a metal vase containing Buddhist offerings up to the summit, which he plans to reach in mid-May. The expedition launches WWF's Global Awareness Campaign on Climate Change in the Himalayas "The Himalayas are the youngest and most vulnerable mountains to climate change," observed Anil Manandhar, WWF country representative for Nepal. "However, the world has not paid attention to the plight of the Himalayas and we want the whole of humanity to know that the Himalayas are bearing the brunt of our wrongdoings."