Action Card Briefing – June 2006
Climate Change
2006 has been
designated by the United Nations as the International Year of
Deserts and Desertification. Saturday 17 June 2006 is the World Day
to Combat Desertification.
Desertification has
been described as one of the most alarming processes of
environmental degradation, and is caused by climate change and other
human-induced factors. The International Year of Deserts and
Desertification is designed to get the message across that
desertification is a global problem, as well as providing greater
emphasis on drylands on the international environmental agenda. For
more detail about the United Nations Convention to Combat
Desertification, visit their website –
www.unccd.int
The Darfur region of
Sudan lies on the edge of the Sahara desert in northern Africa.
Darfur has an estimated population of up to six million people, 60%
of whom are subsistence farmers. The land is mostly desert or
savannah. Relations between nomadic herders and the farming
community over grazing rights have worsened as desertification
caused by climate change reduces the area of fertile land. In recent
years conflict in Darfur has forced millions to flee from their
homes as villages have been razed, and people raped and killed. The
conflict in Darfur has been caused by other factors as well, such as
political and ethnic differences in the region. As climate change
speeds up the process of desertification in arid parts of the world,
tension over shrinking areas of productive farmland and access to
water will increasingly become a reason for conflict.
In neighbouring Chad,
Lake Chad has receded to 20% of its former volume. 30 years ago the
town of Baga was on the waterfront – now it is many miles away from
the shore. Local people blame global warming – average rainfall has
been falling by 5-10mm per year. Others say river damming schemes
for hydro-electric power stations are responsible. William Bata
Ndahi, Director of the Lake Chad Research Institute said
“Desertification is moving southwards. The water is moving further
and further away. We believe desertification has contributed most to
the demise of Lake Chad.” There are plans to conduct a feasibility
study to look into construction of a damn and canal to pump water
uphill from the Congo River to the River Chari, one of the rivers
that feed into the lake.
For more information
about Operation Noah, the Churches’ Climate Change Campaign, visit
www.christian-ecology.org.uk/noah
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