Dar es Salaam is among cities facing climate threat

Mathew Kwembe in the Citizen (Dar es Salaam, Tanzania): Dar es Salaam is among 15 cities in the world which are most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, a report released at the just ended climate summit here indicated. The report, published as a book titled “Climate Change and the Urban Poor” was released by the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), an international research organisation based in UK.

The 15 cities - three in Asia and the rest in Africa -are all IN least developed countries (LDCs) with low gross national income, weak human assets and high level of economic vulnerability. But they account for only 3.2 percent of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Besides Dar es Salaam, other cities are in Benin, Mozambique, Mali, Mauritania, Malawi, Sudan, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Kenya and Senegal in Africa.

Other cities are Thimphu in Bhutan, Khulna in Bangladesh and Kathmandu in Nepal from Asia. The report says Dar es salaam, located along the Indian Ocean coast, will be affected by climate change predominantly by flooding, a rise in sea level and coastal erosion. In most cases, climate change has already affected large parts of coastal areas with wide spread erosion and flooding and that they continue to devastate vast areas of the coastal areas.

The conducted survey has established that a rise in sea level would aggravate existing ecological problems through increased rates of coastal erosion, more persistent flooding, loss of wetlands, increased salination of ground water and soil and greater influx of diverse pollutants.

The study shows that coastal erosion has been rampant in many parts of coastal areas in the country but it is more pronounced in north of Dar es Salaam. Kunduchi Beach and Bahari Beach suburbs have been eroded to such extent that heavy investment has been suggested to ensure their preservation….

The harbor in Dar es Salaam in 1906