Climate has changed
a tiny kingdom of subsistence farmers in Africa is hungrier than ever. In January 2003, rainfall patterns of Lesotho altered suddenly, ushering in untimely frost and severe storms that destroyed most of the standing crops. “Frost in the summertime! We never used to see weather like this. We don’t know what to expect anymore from the skies. I think God is angry with us, but I don’t know why,” says Makhabasha Ntaote, a 70-year-old matriarch.
Scientists have a possible answer to Ntaote’s question. They predict that nearly a third of Lesotho’s 2.1 million residents will soon require aid, as the mainstay of their economy suffers the impacts of global warming. According to the World Meteorological Organization (wmo), this year the impacts would be more apparent than ever before worldwide in the form of extreme weather events.
The specialised climate science agency of the United Nations normally confines itself to issuing scientific reports and statistics at the end of each year. However, the extreme oddities of weather patterns this year compelled the organisation to issue a warning recently. Already, a pre-monsoon heat wave in India has resulted in temperatures over 45
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