According to a new Oxford University report, extreme temperatures are likely to hit Uganda, South Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo if climate targets are not met.
The global analysis concluded that African countries not only had the highest cooling requirements historically, between 2009 and 2018, but will also face the greatest surge in heat exposure if the planet warms by 20 C.
Other African countries at risk, in addition to Uganda, are the Central African Republic, Burkina Faso, Mali, South Sudan, Nigeria, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Chad, and Cameroon.
The report claims that if global climate targets are exceeded, Africa will experience the greatest overall temperature increase and the greatest cooling demand.
The concept of “cooling degree days,” which is frequently used in research and weather forecasting to determine whether cooling would be required on a specific day to keep populations comfortable, was used by the authors for their analysis.
The study’s temperature averages were produced by modelling the world in 60 km grids every six hours, which yielded some of the study’s most trustworthy findings globally.
The study concludes that if climate targets are not met, other nations that are not accustomed to rising temperatures will also suffer significantly from them.
“These conditions will pose further stress to the continent’s socio-economic development and energy networks, issues that require much additional research given the limited studies of this rising threat in the African context,” Dr Radhika Khosla, Associate Professor at the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment and leader of the Oxford Martin Programme on the Future of Cooling, said.
“It is also a clear indication that Africa is bearing the brunt of a problem they did not create, which should further strengthen calls for climate justice and equity. Cooling demand can no longer be a blind spot in sustainability debates,” he added
The Oxford Martin Programme on the Future of Cooling’s Dr Nicole Miranda, a senior researcher at the university, made the following statement: “Our findings show that nations already experiencing heatwaves and extremely high temperatures, such as those in the tropics, will see a significant increase in extreme temperatures if the global mean temperatures rise from 1.5oC to 2.0oC. The Central African Republic, Burkina Faso, and Mali have experienced the highest increase with more than 250 extra cooling degree days, illustrating how true this is for Central African nations in general.
Dehydration, heat exhaustion, and even death can result from extreme heat, especially in populations that are already at risk.