Professor Ted Miguel notes that Africa is growing economically, and it will be a major contributor in the global economy in the upcoming years. Yet, it is one of the most unstable regions in the world, plagued by corruption, civil war, and unstable governments. Miguel found that this instability and violence is likely to worse the situation, and Sub-Saharan Africa will see some of the highest social impacts of global warming.
As dire as this situation seems, is this violence and increased conflict inevitable? Is it possible to take steps prevent these acts from happening? Furthermore, is global warming going to become an excuse for our actions i.e., "I couldn't help it--the heat caused me to act violently." It is imperative that we look at the costs of development and convenience through a social, as well as environmental, lens.
I just finished taking Prof. Miguel's class on Sub-Saharan Africa this semester and this was one his major topics. We discussed in depth how Africa already suffers from low and highly variable rainfall and how in African countries years of poor rainfall have a direct link to incidences of internal conflict or civil war in the next two years. Climate change will only increase those rainfall problems. This is because as he mentions much of Africa's population is agrarian and there are very limited irrigation networks. There are a number of things that can be done to address this issue. Governments like Botswana's can establish social services that go into affect in years of bad rainfall. They can also build strong irrigation networks and try to develop their economies away from agriculture.
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