How climate change is turning once green Madagascar into a desert
The fourth-largest islet on the earth and one of its most different ecosystems, Madagascar has thousands of aboriginal species of shops and creatures similar as lemurs. But in its far southern regions, the reality on the ground has changed.
With precious many trees left to decelerate the wind in this once rich land, red beach is blowing everyplace onto fields, townlets and roads, and into the eyes of children staying for food parcels.
Four times of failure, linked by the United Nations to climate change, along with deforestation caused by burning or cutting down trees to make watercolor and husbandry, have converted the area into a dust coliseum.
This period of times of failure, deforestation, environmental damage, poverty and population growth has led to a major food extremity in southern Madagascar where further than one million people presently need food handouts from the World Food Programme (WFP), a United Nations agency.
At the height of the food extremity in the south, the WFP was advising that the islet was at threat of seeing"the world's first climate change shortage." Still, the situation is getting better after months of intervention.
Theodore Mbainaissem, who runs WFP operations in the worst- hit areas in southern Madagascar, said rainfall patterns had changed beyond recognition in recent times.
Still,'they say they do not know,"If you ask the elders' do you suppose it's going to rain. Before, they could tell from the position of the moon when it was going to rain, but people don't manage to assay presently,"says Theodore Mbainaissem, WFP chief for Androy and Anosy.
Mbainaissem said that after months of action from the WFP, other aid organisations and the original authorities, the worst of the food extremity is over.
But the work is far from done. While townies living in dire poverty are still cutting down trees to cultivate the land, the United Nations'IPCC climate change panel expects that famines will continue to be a problem.
While some scientists say the current situation is within Madagascar's normal range of rainfall patterns, everyone agrees that the food extremity shows a country formerly floundering to manage.
