Heatwaves over the last century in sub-Saharan Africa have not been properly recorded, undermining early warning systems to save lives and prevent economic losses caused by soaring temperatures, a University of Oxford report said on Monday.
Researchers found the Emergency Events Database (EM-DAT), the world’s biggest database of extreme weather events, includes data on just two African heatwaves since 1900, compared with dozens in recent decades in other global regions. A lack of expertise and poor governance on the issue, along with limited observational networks contributed to the shortfall, they said.
The report found that in contrast to sub-Saharan Africa’s two reports in the EM-DAT, 83 European heatwaves in the last 40 years were documented. Environmental campaigners warned that the lack of data on extreme heat events meant African experiences of climate change were being excluded from the global debate. More than half a billion people are likely to be hit by heat stress above safe levels by 2100 if global average temperatures continue to rise, according to a study published in March in the Environmental Research Letters journal.
The research found some 275 million people suffered at least one day of dangerous heat stress annually at present. Extreme heat can lead to kidney disorders and psychiatric illness, severe dehydration and can aggravate cardiac conditions, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). Another of the Oxford report’s authors, Friederike Otto, acting director of the Environmental Change Institute, said lives could be saved relatively easily if warning systems worked well.
She said collaboration between health experts, disaster researchers and meteorologists could help fill the data gaps, making extreme weather events predictable and avoiding unnecessary loss of life. Adow, who was not involved in the Oxford study, said accurate data would also spur climate action by African governments and international leaders.
Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation
Finnish site 
Global site