Notícias
Abou Sow | Senegal
Abou Sow
Who are you?
What is climate change for you? How does it affect your life?
By definition, climate change is a lasting change in climate parameters due to the increase in greenhouse gasses. The latter leads to the destruction of the ozone layer, which causes radiation to penetrate the surface of the globe to an abnormal extent. To illustrate my point, I show you the following images that reflect the impacts of climate change in my area.
This phenomenon leads to the destruction of the barrier beach linked to marine submersion.
This is in the north-east of Senegal where we note that the deficit in rainfall caused by the disruption of the water cycle is the cause of the retreat of the Sahelian vegetation and the acceleration of wind erosion. The consequences can be the loss of arable land, scarcity of pasture, desertification, migration of animal species, etc.
Photo taken in the Guet-Ndar area to illustrate the destruction of coastal habitats due to climate change. This situation causes material damage, loss of economic activities practiced by the inhabitants such as fishing (economic lung of the area), tourism, etc.
Please share pictures of places in your town/village that have changed in the last 10 years due to climate change
Good evening everyone, I hope you are well. I took these photos in my area this evening. This is the village of Djougop Peulh. It is located in the commune of Gandon, less than ten kilometres from the city of Saint Louis. This village is also affected by the phenomenon of climate change, which is constantly degrading the physical conditions of the environment. The images below show how this area is affected by this phenomenon.
Here we can see a reduction in the vegetation cover which is caused by the deficit in rainfall which is in the order of 400 to 250 mm/year. This situation has caused the disappearance of certain plant species that can no longer resist in this area. However, the prosopis is now the most dominant species in this area.
Here we can see a reduction in the vegetation cover which is caused by the deficit in rainfall which is in the order of 400 to 250mm/year. This situation has caused the disappearance of certain plant species that can no longer resist in this area. However, the prosopis is now the most dominant species in this area.
This deficit in rainfall in correlation with the increase in temperature results in the loss of vegetation in low-lying areas (also known as depression zones), leading to bare surfaces and the rise of salt by thermo capillarity. These low areas are recognised by the presence of a plant species called tamarisk because of its strong capacity to withstand salt.
This photo illustrate the salinization of agricultural land caused by the effects of climate change. According to a farmer, some of these lands have been abandoned because of the salt, and this has led to the socio-professional conversion of most of these farmers.
How are you coping with the changes in the environment?
Hello to all of you, I hope you are well. And for this week’s question I offer you the two pictures below which indicate the adaptation strategies of the populations to the phenomenon of climate change in the Northern zone.
Here we have a dike being built at Gohou mbathie to slow down the effect of the waves. Basaltic rocks have been put in place and surrounded by wire mesh.
This is in the Senegal River delta, particularly in the Diéri area, where people used to practise rain-fed agriculture. But with the deficit in rainfall recorded over the last few decades due to climate change, these populations, particularly the farmers, have developed a new strategy which consists of irrigated agriculture. Here we have a subsidy irrigation of a pepper plot. This strategy allows them to extend the cultivated areas, to produce a lot of yields but also to cultivate during all seasons.
What is mobility for you?
Hello everyone, I hope you are doing great. And for the question of the week, we note that the concept of mobility in a simple way is the totality of movements of people recorded for more or less long durations and for various reasons. In this case, there are two types of human mobility: commuting mobility linked to daily trips and residential mobility linked to the change of residence over a longer period. In all cases, it results from the inflow and outflow of people in a given territory. However, in this context of change, there is an increase in the density of human mobility over space because of its impact on people’s lives. Thus, we illustrate these types of mobility and the problems related to human mobility through the images below.
Mobility linked to daily travel has led to traffic problems such as congestion with a high concentration of vehicles noted in the city of Saint-Louis. This situation is accentuated by the socio-professional reconversion of rural households affected by the effects of climate change, such as the abandonment of agricultural land and the absence of pasture for livestock. As a result, they always converge on the city to benefit from the services it offers.
If we go back a little in the history of the city of Saint-Louis, we note that the years of drought led to a change of residence of most of the rural population, in particular a massive rural exodus which provoked an anarchic occupation of the low areas of the city without connecting to the city’s sewerage system. This situation is at the origin of the flooding of the peripheral districts of the city of Saint-Louis, which are located in the Sor suburb. As an example, in 2003, with the return of good rainfall, the Senegal River basin flooded. This resulted in the river overflowing into the flood-prone areas of the city. It is in this context that the breach of Saint-Louis was opened on the night of October 03 to 04 to save the city from rain floods with a width of 4m. and today, it extends over more than 7km causing huge human losses and negative consequences on the economic activities of the population of Saint-Louis.
Finally, to talk about human mobility linked to climate factors, we will refer to this important part (youth) of the population that no longer has any hope in this country because most of them have lost their activities or have been hit by unemployment linked to the lack of policies to support young people and the weakness of their resilience to the effects of climate change. For this reason, they leave for the western countries, hoping to find a better future and to improve their living conditions as well as their families.
