Kenya (drought / flooding)

The Arctic acts as a critical regulator of the Earth’s climate, and its vast expanse of ice and snow is crucial in reflecting sunlight to keep the Earth cool. However, human-induced global warming has accelerated melting in the Arctic, increasing darker surfaces that allow more sunlight to be absorbed as heat. Not only does this contribute to rising global average temperatures, but it has resulted in the Arctic warming four times faster than the global average rate in recent decades. This imbalance in warming disrupts atmospheric circulation patterns, which rely on heat differentials. This disruption can then, in turn, cause extreme temperatures and precipitation events far away, including those that affect food security in Kenya.  

After many consecutive years of drought, Kenya is experiencing widespread food insecurity. In the arid and semi-arid parts of the country, an estimated 4.4 million people are facing high levels of acute food insecurity due to ten straight years of below-average rainfall.  

Apart from extended droughts, Kenya has witnessed extreme rainfall and flash floods in recent years. After drought, the dry soil has reduced capacity to absorb water, and flooding becomes more likely. Floods can damage crops and infrastructure, and in severe cases claim lives – 12 Kenyans were killed by floods in March 2023. Furthermore, the negative impacts of climate change are associated with increased violence and instability, and these impacts disproportionately affect women. 

Arctic change also affects Kenya by way of increasing sea levels due to the melting of the Greenland ice sheet, which is one of the largest contributors to sea level rise. Rising seas around Kenya threaten infrastructure in low-lying coastal cities like Mombasa; saltwater intrusion can also taint freshwater aquifers (a body of rock and/or sediment that holds groundwater) and destroy agricultural lands, further impacting food security. 

The situation in Kenya highlights the urgency of scaling up efforts to reduce emissions around the world to slow climate change. However, given that Kenya and many other countries are already experiencing the dire consequences of climate change, adaptation initiatives also need to be mobilised rapidly. Wealthy countries and organisations, the highest historical emitters of greenhouse gases, have been promising vulnerable developing countries and communities upwards of US$100 billion in funding since COP15 in 2009 to combat the effects of the climate crisis.  At COP26, a new initiative was launched to generate $40 billion per year but only about half of the funding materialised. 

Read more about food insecurity here.

Read more about sea level rise here.

Read more about extreme weather here.