Dore Mossouah harvests bananas in Guey forest, Guinea
Climate Change to Threaten Staple Crops in Sub-Saharan Africa by 2025
Reuters (3/7) reported on new research that finds climate change will threaten staple crops in sub-Saharan Africa as early as 2025, with maize, bananas and beans at greatest risk. The researchers urge that adaptation measures be taken and provide several options in the study.
Scientific American (3/14) said a new report from the National Academies of Sciences finds that some specific weather events, such as heat waves, droughts and heavy rains, can now be clearly attributed to climate change. However, the connection between climate change and hurricanes, tornadoes, thunderstorms, hail and wildfires is less clear.
The Jamaica Observer (3/11) said the Jamaican government hosted a global forum on national adaptation planning this week, with representatives from eleven countries.
The Jamaica Information Service (3/15) wrote about the ‘Improving Climate Data and Information Management Project (ICDIMP)’ in Jamaica supported by the World Bank aiming to increase climate resilience by improving the quality of data from weather and climate services.
The Guardian (3/14) reported that some scientists were “shocked” by a sharp rise in global temperatures in February, as reflected in data released by U.S. space agency NASA. The average global surface temperature in February was 1.35 degrees Celsius warmer than the average February temperature from 1950-1981, according to NASA.
