We may not have realized it yet, but climate change impacts are becoming much more significant. Communities and countries around the world are aware of the effects of climate change with the increasing number of hurricanes, tornadoes, floods and droughts events. Climate change is known to be a widespread phenomenon that is connected to how much greenhouse gases are emitted into the atmosphere, which in turn is associated with the rapid increase in the global temperature. The increase of these emissions is caused mainly by human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels, causing the massive emission of carbon dioxide and the loss of carbon storage in forests and other natural lands. The intensity of the emissions is determined by the level of industrialization and the level of technology of a community.Many questions are being raised in relation to the causes, risks, vulnerabilities and impacts of climate change. As an Energy Policy and Climate graduate student at Johns Hopkins University, I have focused my coursework on Climate and Adaptation subjects such as Cities and Climate Change, Adaptation to Climate Change, Climate Change Policy Analysis among others. As a result, I became very interested in the many different adaptive measures that countries often use in order to limit the risks and vulnerabilities of the communities living in low resilience areas. Pollution of water resources is another problem that is rapidly graduating and worsens with economic development, population growth, and diversity of living standards and human activities. In many areas all over the continent, rainfall amounts over the years have reduced due to longer dry seasons, leading to less surface and ground waters that could be useful for the population. The main purpose of this Capstone Project is to extend my knowledge and experience attained through coursework and work environment by studying least developed countries that do not have access to technology resources in order to achieve a certain level of climate change adaptation that could put West African Countries on the right path of sustainability development. Africa is a continent rich in natural resources. Many sectors in West Africa are impacted by climate change including water resources, coastal zone resources, agriculture, human health, energy, industry, forestry, fisheries and wildlife. Nevertheless, there are not many technological resources available to identify, and control the effect of climate change. In fact, in areas such as Sierra Leone and Senegal, communities are not aware of the causes and effects of climate change. The outcome expected in the end is first to identify the problem that has not been addressed by the local authorities, and then provide a framework of set of adaptive measures that could be implemented and could make a difference despite all the obstacles the communities of Sierra Leone and Senegal are facing. Skills and knowledge for this project were acquired from various relevant coursework and through an Internship at Environment America as a Clean Water Intern. Statistical data based on scientific research will be selected by examining baseline risks and vulnerabilities as they affect water, and then response options in the water sector. Finding the best available data will help me use it to understand baselines and response options. In fact, as an example, in order to move forward with the project, an evaluation of the Business As Usual (BAU) activities will be a great start. A great addition to this project is the mentorship of Mr. Peterson, Founder, CEO and President of the Center for Climate Strategies. Then research and project documents will be evaluated to give a framework to address the problem. Being a foreigner born and raised in the Ivory Coast, or Côte D’Ivoire, an emerging West African country, climate change is an occurrence that is being undervalued, and people are still suffering from the impacts of this phenomenon. Consequently, I decided to focus on the changes created by climate change and evaluate the consequent adaptation strategies put in place in specific region in Africa on the west coast basin of Africa, mainly countries like Senegal and Sierra Leone. Another purpose of this Project is to provide and describe a set of metrics that could be implemented towards the issues of water resources, the impacts of food activities, human health and industries, including food and energy adaptation strategies. This project is referencing many data found through extensive research as well as unavailable information. In fact, as stated earlier, the project will be based on least developed countries in West Africa. This intends that many necessary data and helpful information will not be available. Climate change can have very serious negative effects on the socio-economic development of a community, if the possible impacts and effects are not identified in order for the appropriate authorities to put suitable adaptive measures. In fact, this could be seen as a barrier that will be encountered while working on this project. This project purpose is answering the core questions concerning the main impacts of climate change on water resources and how to achieve a safe level of sustainability. Water is the main source of life and this sentence has more meaning in least developed countries like in West Africa. Water is a scarce resource and this is greatly felt West Africa where it suffers from under management. This under management is noticed through diseases, lack of potable water for everyday activities, and the rapid increase in pollution rates.
【 预 览 】
附件列表
Files
Size
Format
View
CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION STRATEGIES: WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT INSENEGAL AND SIERRA LEONE
PDF
download
878987797
028-85220240
