ESTIMATION OF THE IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE IN MAJOR CITIES
ALONG THE AFRICAN COASTAL LINE (flooding, economics loss and human
displacement)
INTRODUCTION
The African coast line is about 26,000 km (16,000 mi) long. Major cities that lie along the
African coastline to name a few are: Cape Town, Durban, Maputo, Dar es Salaam, Kinshasa,
Alexandria, Casablanca, Abidjan, Accra and Lagos. Sea-level rise as an impact of human-
induced climate change has significant implications to low-lying coastal areas and beyond. The
coastal zone contains valuable ecosystems and typically has higher population densities than
inland areas (Small and Nicholls, 2003; McGranahan et al., 2007). Additionally, it generates
significant amounts of economic activity contributing to national wealth (Bijlsma et al., 1996;
Sachs et al., 2001). In physical terms the major direct impacts of sea-level rise include
inundation of low-lying areas, shoreline erosion, coastal wetland loss, saltwater intrusion, higher
water tables and higher extreme water levels leading to coastal flooding (Leatherman and
Nicholls, 1995). Human-induced pressures on the coastal zone (such as growing population,
water abstraction, and alteration of the hydrological regime including the damming of sediments)
will exacerbate the effects of sea-level rise (Nicholls et al., 2007). Major cities that lie along the
African coastline to name a few are: Cape Town, Durban, Maputo, Dar es Salaam, Kinshasa,
Alexandria, Casablanca, Abidjan, Accra and Lagos. Table 1 shows the population of major
coastal African cities.
Table 1. African Coastal cities with their corresponding population (2017)
City Country City Population Urban population
Alexandria Egypt 3806300 4345800
Casablanca Morocco 3344300 3344300
Abidjan (Ivory Coast) 3310500 3972300
Kinshasa DRC 6301100 7527500
Cape Town South Africa 2686000 3086600
Dar es Salaam Tanzania 2456100 2456100
, Durban South Africa 2354900 2354900
Tripoli Libya 1890600 2271800
Algiers Algeria 1696000 3815900
Accra Ghana 1605400 2756100
Mogadishu Somalia 1183100 1183100
Maputo Mozambique 1088100 1639300
Port Harcourt Nigeria 1053900 1190600
Freetown Sierra Leone 1032100 1032100
Port Elizabeth South Africa 833900 1047600
Douala Cameroon 1239100 1449400
Conakry Guinea 1595800 1595800
Dakar Senegal 2384000 2384000
Anthropogenic greenhouse gases warming up has been considered to be the major potential
mechanism of climate change over the next few hundred years. A number of gases that occur
naturally in the atmosphere in small quantities are known as “greenhouse gases”. Water vapour
(H2O), carbon dioxide (CO2), ozone (O3), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O) trap solar
energy in much the same way as do the glass panels of a greenhouse or a closed automobile
(IPCC, 1990). It has been established that the climate change in the next 100 years will be due to
anthropogenic activities (IPCC, 2001).
Human activities, however, are now raising the concentrations of these gases in the atmosphere
and thus increasing their ability to trap energy. The global greenhouse gas emissions due to
anthropogenic activities have increased since pre-industrial times with an increase of about 70%
between 1970 and 2004 (IPCC, 2007). Man-made carbon dioxide which, is the most important
contributor to the enhanced greenhouse gases effect, comes mainly from the use of coal, fossil
fuel/oil, and natural gas. It is also released by the destruction of forests and other natural sinks
and reservoirs that absorb carbon dioxide from the air. Depending on the temperatures of the
Ocean it assimilates and releases CO2.
ALONG THE AFRICAN COASTAL LINE (flooding, economics loss and human
displacement)
INTRODUCTION
The African coast line is about 26,000 km (16,000 mi) long. Major cities that lie along the
African coastline to name a few are: Cape Town, Durban, Maputo, Dar es Salaam, Kinshasa,
Alexandria, Casablanca, Abidjan, Accra and Lagos. Sea-level rise as an impact of human-
induced climate change has significant implications to low-lying coastal areas and beyond. The
coastal zone contains valuable ecosystems and typically has higher population densities than
inland areas (Small and Nicholls, 2003; McGranahan et al., 2007). Additionally, it generates
significant amounts of economic activity contributing to national wealth (Bijlsma et al., 1996;
Sachs et al., 2001). In physical terms the major direct impacts of sea-level rise include
inundation of low-lying areas, shoreline erosion, coastal wetland loss, saltwater intrusion, higher
water tables and higher extreme water levels leading to coastal flooding (Leatherman and
Nicholls, 1995). Human-induced pressures on the coastal zone (such as growing population,
water abstraction, and alteration of the hydrological regime including the damming of sediments)
will exacerbate the effects of sea-level rise (Nicholls et al., 2007). Major cities that lie along the
African coastline to name a few are: Cape Town, Durban, Maputo, Dar es Salaam, Kinshasa,
Alexandria, Casablanca, Abidjan, Accra and Lagos. Table 1 shows the population of major
coastal African cities.
Table 1. African Coastal cities with their corresponding population (2017)
City Country City Population Urban population
Alexandria Egypt 3806300 4345800
Casablanca Morocco 3344300 3344300
Abidjan (Ivory Coast) 3310500 3972300
Kinshasa DRC 6301100 7527500
Cape Town South Africa 2686000 3086600
Dar es Salaam Tanzania 2456100 2456100
, Durban South Africa 2354900 2354900
Tripoli Libya 1890600 2271800
Algiers Algeria 1696000 3815900
Accra Ghana 1605400 2756100
Mogadishu Somalia 1183100 1183100
Maputo Mozambique 1088100 1639300
Port Harcourt Nigeria 1053900 1190600
Freetown Sierra Leone 1032100 1032100
Port Elizabeth South Africa 833900 1047600
Douala Cameroon 1239100 1449400
Conakry Guinea 1595800 1595800
Dakar Senegal 2384000 2384000
Anthropogenic greenhouse gases warming up has been considered to be the major potential
mechanism of climate change over the next few hundred years. A number of gases that occur
naturally in the atmosphere in small quantities are known as “greenhouse gases”. Water vapour
(H2O), carbon dioxide (CO2), ozone (O3), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O) trap solar
energy in much the same way as do the glass panels of a greenhouse or a closed automobile
(IPCC, 1990). It has been established that the climate change in the next 100 years will be due to
anthropogenic activities (IPCC, 2001).
Human activities, however, are now raising the concentrations of these gases in the atmosphere
and thus increasing their ability to trap energy. The global greenhouse gas emissions due to
anthropogenic activities have increased since pre-industrial times with an increase of about 70%
between 1970 and 2004 (IPCC, 2007). Man-made carbon dioxide which, is the most important
contributor to the enhanced greenhouse gases effect, comes mainly from the use of coal, fossil
fuel/oil, and natural gas. It is also released by the destruction of forests and other natural sinks
and reservoirs that absorb carbon dioxide from the air. Depending on the temperatures of the
Ocean it assimilates and releases CO2.
