Climate Change and Africa
Cambridge University Press, 11/2/2006
EAN 9780521029957, ISBN10: 0521029953
Paperback, 412 pages, 28 x 21 x 2.1 cm
Language: English
At the beginning of the twenty-first century, no environmental issue is of such truly global magnitude as the issue of climate change. The poorer, developing countries are the least equipped to adapt to the potential effects of climate change, although most of them have played an insignificant role in causing it. African countries are amongst the poorest of the developing countries. This book presents the issues of most relevance to Africa, such as past and present climate, desertification, biomass burning and its implications for atmospheric chemistry and climate, energy generation, sea-level rise, ENSO-induced drought and flood, adaptation, disaster risk reduction, the UNFCCC and Kyoto Protocol (especially the Clean Development Mechanism), capacity-building, and sustainable development. It provides a comprehensive and up-to-date review of these and many other issues, with chapters by the leading experts from a range of disciplines. Climate Change and Africa will prove to be an invaluable reference for all researchers and policy makers with an interest in climate change and Africa.
Notes on contributors
Peer reviewers
Editor's note
Forewords
Prefaces
Part I. Science
1. Holocene climatic, hydrological and environmental oscillations in the tropics with special reference to Africa
2. The relative importance of the different forcings on the environment in Ethiopia during the Holocene
3. Global warming and African climate change
a reassessment
4. Interactions of desertification and climate in Africa
5. Africa's climate observed
perspectives on monitoring and management of floods, drought, and desertification
6. Atmospheric chemistry in the tropics
7. Natural and human-induced biomass burning in Africa
an important source for volatile organic compounds in the troposphere
8. Biomass burning in Africa
role in atmospheric change and opportunities for emission mitigation
9. Soil micro-organisms as controllers of trace gas emissions over southern Africa
Part II. Sustainable Energy Development, Mitigation and Policy
10. Biomass energy in sub-Saharan Africa
11. Natural resources
population growth and sustainable development in Africa
12. Sustainable energy development and the Clean Development Mechanism
African priorities
13. Opportunities for clean energy in the SADC under the UNFCCC
the case for the electricity and transport sectors
14. Regional approaches to global climate change policy in sub-Saharan Africa
15. Energy for development
solar home systems in Africa and global carbon emissions
16. Climate change in sub-Saharan Africa
assumptions, realities and future investments
17. Climate-friendly energy policies for Egypt's sustainable development
Part III. Vulnerability and Adaptation
18. Potential impacts of sea-level rise on populations and agriculture
19. Sea-level rise and coastal biodiversity in West Africa
a case study from Ghana
20. The impacts of ENSO in Africa
21. Climate policy implications of the recent ENSO events in a small island context
22. El Niño causes dramatic outbreak of Paederus dermatitis in East Africa
23. The role of indigenous plants in household adaptation to climate change
the Kenyan experience
24. Requirements for integrated assessment modeling at the regional and national levels in Africa to address climate change
25. Climate and disaster risk reduction in Africa
Part IV. Capacity-Building
26. Climate change mitigation analysis in southern African countries
capacity enhancement in Botswana, Tanzania and Zambia
27. Capacity-building initiatives to implement the climate change convention in Africa
28. Education and public awareness
foundations of energy efficiency
Part V. Lessons from the Montreal Protocol
29. Lessons for developing countries from the ozone agreements
30. Opportunities for Africa to integrate climate protection in economic development policy
31. Ozone depletion and global climate change
is the Montreal Protocol a good model for responding to climate change?
Index.