The climate change crisis: a focus on Ghana’s coastal communities
Over the past century, human activities have released large amounts of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. This has led to temperature rising, the ice caps melting, the oceans warming and becoming acidic, and the body count growing.
Advertisement
These and other changes will become more pronounced in the coming decades. We must act strongly now and expect to continue the action over the coming decades.
According to the United States of America EPA, global sea level has risen by eight inches since 1870. The change has already affected many low lying Islands nations that have had to adapt, and some populations have moved to higher areas, or have tried to buy land from other countries to migrate as citizens.
The current climate change crisis is not new and immediate, but years if not centuries in the making. This requires urgent and decisive action because the clock is ticking.
Recognising the climate crisis, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) chose the theme “Small Islands Development States” (SIDS) and the slogan “Raise Your Voice, Not Sea Level rise”. The theme calls for increased awareness of the effects of climate change and minimisation of carbon emissions into the atmosphere which contributes substantially to global warming and rise in sea-levels which poses serious threats and risks to small island states.
Consequently, the United Nations declared 2014 as: “The International Year of Small Island States.”
As part of a global effort to mobilise action on climate change,the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) chose the theme “Greening our Environment to save Ghana’’ and the slogan ‘’Raise Your Voice; Grow a Tree, To Green Our Environment".
Some impacts
Though World Environment Day (WED) 2014 will focus on the challenges of Island nations and climate change, the environment knows no borders, since the effects of human-induced climate change are being felt in every corner of the world.
Other Trending Stories
Around May 2012, the world entered a danger zone when concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere passed 400 parts per million for the first time in recorded history. It came with serious weather events.
A single Tornado wiped out an entire town in Oklahoma; Australia experienced soaring temperatures and wildfires even before the summer; and a new breed of super Typhoon smashed into the Philippines.
In Ghana, few hours’ rainfall on January 31, 2014, submerged major streets in Accra and flooded the Kwame Nkrumah Circle, parts of Asylum Down and Kaneshie. Economic and social activities came to a standstill, and the implications are yet to be quantified in monetary terms.
This is beyond crisis
Ghana’s coastline is highly vulnerable to the various manifestations of climate change. Human activities such as sand winning, coupled with coastal and beach erosion, already pose a problem for the country - a problem that is likely to be exacerbated by sea-level rise.
Considering the fact that nearly 25 per cent of Ghanaians live in the coastal zone and about 10 per cent depend on coastal fishery for their livelihood, it is likely that any changes in climate will affect the production of the fishery sector and will impact on the socio-economic lives of the people.
In August 2013, a publication entitled: “Assessing the Impact of Sea-level rise...” by Appeaning Addo and Adeyemi projected that approximately 645,556 people, 926 buildings, the Densu Wetlands and a total area of about 0.78 km of land would be submerged by 2100 in the Greater Accra Region.
Forts, castles, monuments, heritage sites, including Asomdwe Park, hospitals such as Effia Nkwanta, Korle-Bu, and Interberton in the Western, Greater Accra and the Central Regions respectively, will not be spared the impact of climate change - some of them will disappear eventually if the sea level rises a further 18 centimetres as forecasted by IPCC.
Equally, there will be loss of human lives, and fishing communities, ministries, departments and agencies, major educational institutions and residential properties dotted along the coastline would disappear.
The 550 km stretch of coastal land of Ghana includes some areas that lie well below sea level. Already, the east coast of the country, in particular the Keta area, is experiencing annual coastal erosion at the rate of three metres. Since 1999, more than 80 million US dollars has been invested to protect, restore and stabilise the coast of Keta; and an amount of 1.14 billion US dollars to protect all shorelines at risk.
How do you raise Your voice, not the sea level?
Scientist have mentioned that even if current global greenhouse gas emission were significantly reduced in the short term--which currently seems unlikely--- the cumulative build-up of carbon in the atmosphere will ensure continuing climate change for decades to come.
At the 2013 Conference of the Parties (COP-19) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) meeting in Warsaw-Poland, the developing countries (Ghana included) asked for increased climate finance, and for a new mechanism to help especially vulnerable nations cope with unavoidable “loss and damage” resulting from climate change.
Though countries had earlier agreed in 2012 in Doha, Qatar, at COP-18 to address “loss and damage” in Warsaw, the issue took on new prominence when Typhoon Haiyan struck the Philippines just days before the conference.
Advertisement
So in Warsaw-Poland the Islands States proposed a “Warsaw Work plan” to quickly reduce emissions by accelerating the uptake of renewable and improved efficiency of energy use and supply.
Therefore, tackling the cause of climate change by reducing the emission of greenhouse gases is a critical and vital complement to coping with the impacts of climate change.
On a personal note ,to raise your voice, not sea level implies a change in attitude and lifestyles, and in consumption patterns, i.e. a desire for needs, not wants, and a respect for the environment.