Impact of Climate Change on Water Resources in Africa

A change in climate is known to affect ecosystems and access to natural resources, such as water. Because of low economic development and variations of local conditions in Sub-Saharan Africa, adaptation and mitigation against climate change impacts is low. From a continental and annual basis, Africa is known to have abundance of water resources but spatial and temporal variation within and between countries puts the continent as one with pressing water problem. Reports have shown that, global warming, which is a direct result of climate change is unequivocal and the change in greenhouse gas emissions is due to human and natural activities. In several African countries, climate change is having a multitude of immediate and long-term impacts on water resources. Although history has it that societies in Africa have always experienced climate-related problems, the increase in frequency and intensity of droughts and floods in the last few decades have placed great burdens on African countries in dealing with high incidences of water related diseases. Human threats have led to water pollution (chemical and biological), water scarcity and global change in climate, thus leading to redistribution of precipitation, rising sea levels, change in CO2 absorption of oceans and increase in extreme precipitation events. This paper was therefore aimed at reviewing current impacts of climate change on Africa water resources. The vulnerability of Africa and current climate change adaptation steps were also discussed