–Hippos are a worry
By Mathew Carr
Some of Obama’s relations or friends of relations are probably already suffering the climate dystopia he spoke about earlier today in Glasgow.
In Kenya, not too far from where Obama’s dad was born, rising lake water levels and accompanying flooding has stirred panic and anxiety among surrounding communities.
Floods have left trails of destruction, with hundreds of families’ homeless.
Crops, farmland and pasture has been destoyed.
Wildlife hasn’t been spared. The loss of grazing land drove them to higher grounds, where displaced families also sought refuge.
Mankind and beast are in conflict.
Hippopotamus now walk freely within areas that were previously safely occupied by humans.
Check out the report below, which I got from a well-placed source.
Executive Summary (emphasis added)
The rising water levels of the Rift Valley Lakes, Turkwel Gorge Dam and Lake Victoria has been a
major cause of concern to the country’s socio-economic development, and this has led to many
uncertainties in the counties where these water bodies are located.
Different explanations
have been advanced to explain these rising water levels, chief of which is hydro-meteorological
variables due to climate change that have led to increased moisture availability as seen in the
rainfall data and discharge of the rivers feeding the lakes.
There is also increased soil in run off
occasioned by land use changes which have increasingly added to the siltation of the lakes as
seen in the sediment load in the rivers. All the Rift Valley lakes are situated in faulted terrain
in the geologically active Eastern Africa Rift Valley and are therefore mainly controlled by the
geological structures. For this reason, the increasing water levels are changing the composition
of lake water thus affecting biodiversity.
This is manifested in the reduced number of flamingos
who feed on algae whose growth has been affected by the change in alkalinity of the lake
waters.
Biodiversity of the lakes has also been greatly affected by the submergence of the
riparian vegetation. Tourism in the areas has drastically reduced owing to the loss in aesthetic
value of the lakes and affected incomes. Economy has been further affected by reduced and
restricted movement due to Covid-19.
The long periods of the rising water levels in these Lakes have generated a humanitarian crisis.
Approximately 75,987 households have been displaced in the thirteen affected counties with a
total population of 379,935 requiring urgent humanitarian assistance.
The affected communities
have endured disruptions to their livelihoods; they have lost assets such as homes, grazing
lands and farming fields which have been destroyed and/or marooned by the floods. The rising
waters levels have destroyed social amenities like learning institutions (primary and secondary
schools), health facilities, markets, fish landing and processing facilities, once-thriving hotels,
curio shops, resorts and lodges, electricity lines, water supply and sanitation units (boreholes,
shallow wells, sanitation facilities) as well as road networks, forcing many to use boat transport
to access services across the flooded areas.
This report intends to highlight the adverse effects of the rising water levels on the affected
population and setbacks on the developmental gains. The major effects include loss of lives
and livelihoods, injury, outbreak of disease, legal issues, safety and security concerns, and
ecological or environmental degradation.
This report is organised into six parts: Introduction, Impact Assessment and Key Findings,
Causes of the Rise of Lake Water Levels, Summary of Key Issues, Recommended Interventions,
and Conclusions
Earlier quick summary of Obama:
http://carrzee.org/2021/11/08/climate-dystopia-dogs-obamas-dreams/
Al Jazeera Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvRa0Ki9LjE
