As Africa's glaciers melt, millions face drought and floods, UN says | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Get the Paper
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Thursday
July 17, 2025

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Get the Paper
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
THURSDAY, JULY 17, 2025
As Africa's glaciers melt, millions face drought and floods, UN says

Africa

Reuters
19 October, 2021, 07:25 pm
Last modified: 19 October, 2021, 07:29 pm

Related News

  • World's glacier mass shrank again in 2024, says UN
  • Bangladesh renews efforts to explore opportunities in Africa
  • Bangladesh eyes enhanced diplomatic, economic ties with Africa
  • Air link to Africa will help Bangladesh become regional aviation hub: Touhid
  • Mpox cases on African continent show 500% increase year-on-year

As Africa's glaciers melt, millions face drought and floods, UN says

The report says last year was Africa's third warmest on record, according to one set of data, 0.86 degrees Celsius above the average in the three decades leading to 2010

Reuters
19 October, 2021, 07:25 pm
Last modified: 19 October, 2021, 07:29 pm
Mount Kenya is seen from the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Laikipia national park, Kenya, May 22 , 2019. REUTERS/Baz Ratner/File Photo
Mount Kenya is seen from the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Laikipia national park, Kenya, May 22 , 2019. REUTERS/Baz Ratner/File Photo

Highlights:

  • Kilimanjaro, Mt Kenya, Rwenzoris snow caps gone by 2040s
  • 118 million poor face floods, drought, extreme heat
  • Climate change to shave 3% off Africa's GDP by 2050

Africa's fabled eastern glaciers will vanish in two decades, 118 million poor people face drought, floods or extreme heat, and climate change could shrink the continent's economy by 3% by mid-century, the U.N. climate agency warned on Tuesday.

The latest report on the state of Africa's climate by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) and African Union agencies paints a dire picture of the continent's ability to adapt to increasingly frequent weather disasters.

The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel

The report says last year was Africa's third warmest on record, according to one set of data, 0.86 degrees Celsius above the average in the three decades leading to 2010. It has mostly warmed slower than high-latitude temperate zones, but the impact is still devastating.

"The rapid shrinking of the last remaining glaciers in eastern Africa, which are expected to melt entirely in the near future, signals the threat of ... irreversible change to the Earth system," WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas said in a foreword to the report.

The report came as African countries demanded a new system to track funding from wealthy nations that are failing to meet a $100-billion annual target to help the developing world tackle climate change.

The demand by Africa's top climate negotiator Tanguy Gahouma, ahead of the COP26 climate summit, highlights tensions between the world's 20 largest economies that produce more than three quarters of greenhouse gas emissions, and developing countries that are bearing the brunt of global warming.

'Extreme heat' 

The report forecast that at current rates all three of Africa's tropical ice fields - Tanzania's Kilimanjaro, Kenya's Mount Kenya, and Uganda's Rwenzoris, which are often identified as the location of the legendary Mountains of the Moon - would be gone by the 2040s.

In addition, "By 2030, it is estimated that up to 118 million extremely poor people (living on less than $1.90 per day) will be exposed to drought, floods and extreme heat ... if adequate response measures are not put in place," African Union Agriculture Commissioner Josefa Sacko said.

Africa, which accounts for less than 4% of greenhouse gas emissions, has long been expected to be severely impacted by climate change. Its croplands are already drought-prone, many of its major cities hug the coast, and widespread poverty makes it harder for people to adapt.

Apart from worsening drought on a continent heavily reliant on agriculture, there was extensive flooding in East and West Africa in 2020, the report noted, while a locust infestation of historic proportions, which began a year earlier, continued to wreak havoc.

The report estimated that sub-Saharan Africa would need to spend $30-$50 billion, or 2-3% of GDP, each year on adaptation to avert even worse consequences.

An estimated 1.2 million people were displaced by storms and floods in 2020, nearly two and half times as many people as fled their homes because of conflict in the same year.

Top News / World+Biz

Africa / Mount Kilimanjaro / Mt Kenya / Rwenzoris / glacier

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • National Citizen Party (NCP) Convenor Nahid Islam speaks at a press conference in Khulna on 16 July 2025. Photo: TBS
    Gopalganj attack: Nahid demands arrest of culprits within 24 hours
  • Photo: TBS
    Gopalganj under heavy security as tension persists amid curfew
  • The supporters of local Awami League and Chhatra League locked in a clash with police following attacks on NCP convoy this afternoon (16 July). Photo: Collected
    Gopalganj under curfew tonight; 4 killed as banned AL, police clash after attack on NCP leaders

MOST VIEWED

  • 131 foreigners were denied entry into Malaysia by their border control. Photo: The Star
    96 Bangladeshis denied entry at Kuala Lumpur airport
  • Double-decker school buses are lined up in a field in Chattogram city. The district administration has proposed modernising the buses to ensure security and convenience for school students. Photo: TBS
    Country's first smart school bus in Ctg faces shutdown amid funding crisis
  • A file photo of people boarding the government-run Betna Express at a railway station. The train operates on the Benapole-Khulna-Mongla route via Jashore. Photo: TBS
    Despite profitability, Betna Express rail service handed over to pvt sector
  • Bangladesh Bank buys $313m more in second dollar auction in three days
    Bangladesh Bank buys $313m more in second dollar auction in three days
  • Representational image. File Photo: Syed Zakir Hossain/TBS
    Malaysia grants Bangladeshi workers multiple-entry visas
  • People enter and loot Ganobhaban, the Prime Minister’s residence, following the resignation of Sheikh Hasina in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on August 5, 2024. Photo: TBS
    Govt to spend Tk111cr to turn Ganabhaban into July Mass Uprising Memorial Museum

Related News

  • World's glacier mass shrank again in 2024, says UN
  • Bangladesh renews efforts to explore opportunities in Africa
  • Bangladesh eyes enhanced diplomatic, economic ties with Africa
  • Air link to Africa will help Bangladesh become regional aviation hub: Touhid
  • Mpox cases on African continent show 500% increase year-on-year

Features

Abu Sayeed spread his hands as police fired rubber bullets, leading to his tragic death. Photos: Collected

How Abu Sayed’s wings of freedom ignited the fire of July uprising

1d | Panorama
Illustration: TBS

Open source legal advice: How Facebook groups are empowering victims of land disputes

2d | Panorama
DU students at TSC around 12:45am on 15 July 2024, protesting Sheikh Hasina’s insulting remark. Photo: TBS

‘Razakar’: The butterfly effect of a word

2d | Panorama
Photo: Collected

Grooming gadgets: Where sleek tools meet effortless styles

3d | Brands

More Videos from TBS

NCP leaders safely in Khulna from Gopalganj.

NCP leaders safely in Khulna from Gopalganj.

6h | TBS Today
July 16 returns with sadness and pain

July 16 returns with sadness and pain

6h | TBS Today
China's economy not hit by Trump's tariff war

China's economy not hit by Trump's tariff war

7h | Others
News of The Day, 16 JULY 2025

News of The Day, 16 JULY 2025

9h | TBS News of the day
EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Advertisement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2025
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net