... There is increasing concern over scientific conclusions regarding social, economic and environmental impacts of climate change in Africa, particularly as Africa has contributed the least to the increasing concentration of greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere, and that the continent is most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and has the least capacity to adapt.
...The south and the central parts of the country have been placed under red alert after experiencing the heaviest rainfall seen since devastating floods killed around 800 people in 2000 (The Namibian 24,January 2013 p.22). According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) regarding the status of the world’s climate in 2010 temperatures averaged over Africa were 1.29°C above the long term average, breaking the previous record by 0.35° C. Moreover, the Saharan/Arabian region was 2.22 °C above normal, the largest annual anomaly ever recorded for any sub-region outside the Arctic and East Africa, which never had a year as much as 1 °C above normal prior to 2003, has now reached this threshold in eight successive years.
...Those countries and communities who have contributed least to climate change but who are already in vulnerable situations will feel the adverse effects of climate change most acutely. In order to reduce greenhouse gases, all countries (developed and developing) should enhance their contribution to long-term cooperative action to combat climate change with a shared vision, which is based on and in fulfillment of the objectives, principles and provisions of the UNFCCC or Convention in particular with their common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, equity and historical responsibility....
Flooding on the Klein Windhoek River, shot by Bries, Wikimedia Commons, under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 Generic license
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