Deadly Africa heat caused by human-induced warming
By Matt McGrath
A deadly heatwave in West Africa and the Sahel was “impossible” without human-induced climate change, scientists say.
Temperatures soared above 48C in Mali last month with one hospital linking hundreds of deaths to the extreme heat.
Researchers say human activities like burning fossil fuels made temperatures up to 1.4C hotter than normal.
A separate study on drought in Southern Africa said El Niño was to blame, rather than climate change.
A number of countries in the Sahel region and across West Africa were hit by a strong heatwave that struck at the end of March and lasted into early April.
The heat was most strongly felt in the southern regions of Mali and Burkina Faso.
In Bamako, the capital of Mali, the Gabriel Toure Hospital said it recorded 102 deaths in the first days of April.
