Africa Is Benefiting from Warming Despite Alarmist Claims

Published October 25, 2012

Michel Nasibu, an advisor in the International Development Advisory Section of KPMG East Africa, wrote a compelling Forbes.com column Monday expressing concern about global warming devastating his continent. It is easy to empathize with people who are sincerely and deeply troubled about our mutual future. Fortunately, however, Nasibu’s fears are misplaced.

Nasibu writes, “The mother of all troubles has already started rooting her tentacles all over the continent: Global warming.” 

More specifically, Nasibu writes, “Africa is slowly becoming a desert.” He also writes, “in the last decade, the continent has been drying up. This means that the food insecurity situation that we are currently experiencing now will not get any better.”

If true, these assertions would certainly be cause for concern. However, far too often public policy leaders accept the self-serving assertions by environmental activist groups without examining the facts for themselves. 

Assertions that global warming is causing Africa to dry up, resulting in expanding deserts and shrinking crop production, are simply false. To the contrary, as the planet warms, the African climate is becoming more conducive to agricultural production and human welfare.

I present and explain the scientific data showing how global warming is benefiting Africa in my weekly Forbes.com column, available here.