A Mythical giant Snake Is Helping Raise Climate Awareness In Malawi
In March earlier this year, Mary Phiri, 40, was at her home in Chilobwe, southern Malawi, when she heard a peculiar rumbling sound in the distance. It got louder until, moments later, an avalanche of mud and rocks hurtled down the nearby Soche Mountain, sweeping away everything in its path. The surrounding area was soon hit by flash floods that washed away homes, bridges, and infrastructure. A nationwide blackout followed as over 200,000 hectares of cropland were ruined just days before they were about to be harvested.
For meteorologists, these impacts came as a shock but not a surprise. Weeks earlier in early-February, they had watched as a disturbance in the ocean near Australia developed into a full-blown cyclone as it crossed the Indian Ocean towards Africa. Due to climate change, storm systems have become more intense and prolonged.
Malawi’s Miracle Island, Where Fish Remain Plentiful Despite Climate Crisis
Hundreds of years ago, Mbenje Island was home to a proud and permanent population. Living in houses made of grass and sticks, the community lived comfortably on this mountainous piece of land in the middle of Lake Malawi, travelling to and from the mainland to trade.
The people came to believe, however, that this was no ordinary place. Men would report meeting apparitions, including of naked women, while on fishing expeditions. Others noticed that whenever someone killed a snake, which are endemic on island, violent storms would soon follow. To calm the spirits and bring peace, the island’s chiefs started offering sacrifices and initiating new traditions.
‘Africa Needs Climate Cash From COP26’, Say Activists
Activists from Sub-Saharan Africa have decried the lack of adequate action to tackle climate change in one of the regions of the world most vulnerable to its impacts at a UN summit they say is dominated by wealthy nations.
As world leaders and delegates draw close to the end of the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland, activists say the UN conference has made communities from the global South “invisible”.
Deforestation Decreases Drinking Water Access In Malawi
Clearing a wide area of trees reduces access to clean drinking water in communities, a study conducted in Malawi has found.
Forests play key roles in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals on water, health, food and climate change, experts say. According to the researchers who conducted the study, between 1972 and 2009, Malawi lost 36 per cent of the forest area, a reason that motivated them to assess the extent to which clearing forests — deforestation — could impact access to clean drinking water.