Climate Change Impacts on Coastal Regions of Sub-Saharan Africa: Analyzing the Threat of Tropical Cyclones and Extreme Weather Events

Climate change indeed presents significant hazards to the coastal regions of Sub-Saharan Africa. Particularly, the phenomena caused by changes in weather patterns like tropical cyclones can cause immense devastation. 1. Increased Frequency and Strength of Tropical Cyclones: Climate change can warm the ocean, creating conducive conditions for the formation and strengthening of tropical cyclones (Klotzbach et al., 2018). These cyclones can inflict damage through high velocity winds, heavy rainfall leading to floods, and storm surges that cause inundation and coastal erosion (Niang et al., 2014). (Citations: Klotzbach, P. J., Bowen, S. G., Pielke, Jr., R., & Bell, M. (2018). Continental US hurricane landfall frequency and associated damage: Observations and future risks. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 99(7), 1359-1376. Niang, I., Ruppel, O. C., Abdrabo, M. A., Essel, A., Lennard, C., Padgham, J., & Urquhart, P. (2014). Africa. In Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability. Part B: Regional Aspects. Contribution of Working Group II to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) 2. Sea-Level Rise: Rising sea levels, a direct result of climate change, can cause frequent and severe flooding, intensify storm surges and lead to the loss of land, especially in low-lying coastal regions (Church et al., 2013). Higher sea levels can also lead to saltwater intrusion damaging freshwater resources and agricultural lands. (Citation: Church, J. A., Clark, P. U., Cazenave, A., Gregory, J. M., Jevrejeva, S., Levermann, A., ... & Unnikrishnan, A. S. (2013). Sea level change. In Climate change 2013 the physical science basis: Working group I contribution to the fifth assessment report of the intergovernmental panel on climate change) 3. Changes in Precipitation Patterns: Climate change can alter rainfall patterns resulting in both periods of severe drought and excessive rainfall. Increased rainfall can lead to flooding, while decreased rainfall can lead to drought and water shortage (Trenberth, 2011). (Citation: Trenberth, K. E. (2011). Changes in precipitation with climate change. Climate Research, 47(1-2), 123.) 4. Impact on Marine Ecosystems: Warming ocean temperatures and ocean acidification, aspects of climate change, can severely impact marine ecosystems, affecting fishing communities relying on the sea for their livelihood (Hoegh-Guldberg et al., 2014). (Citation: Hoegh-Guldberg, O., Cai, R., Poloczanska, E. S., Brewer, P. G., Sundby, S., Hilmi, K., ... & Jung, S. (2014). The ocean. In Climate Change 2014: impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability. Part B: Regional aspects. Contribution of Working Group II to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) These are large-scale, complex issues and call for an equally comprehensive approach to adaptation and resilience-building in Sub-Saharan Africa's coastal regions.