Flooding in Sudan Prompts Calls for Early Warning System for Climate-Related Disasters
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Loading... - Joojo Agyapong
- 30 Sep 2022
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A Sudanese specialist has called for a scientific early warning system for natural disasters such as the ongoing torrential rain and flooding in Sudan that have killed more than 100 people and affected nearly 300,000 others.
Osman Mirghani, a professor at the Institute of Environmental Studies at the University of Khartoum, told Al-Fanar Media that such a system was urgently needed.
The Sudanese government has declared the eastern central province of Gezira a disaster zone with dozens of villages submerged. Fifteen of the country’s 18 provinces are affected. Some survivors have called this year’s June-to-October rainy season the worst they have ever seen, although 800,000 people were affected by floods in Sudan in 2020.
Sudan’s latest flood emergency comes just months before the 2022 U.N. Climate Change Conference, called COP 27, which will be held in Egypt in November. The death toll and the extent of the damage have raised questions about whether the country’s universities have enough courses and are training enough specialists in fields related to climate change.
Academics and experts say it is rare to see new meteorology or climate change courses at Sudanese universities.
Mirghani said universities had no specific course on the effects of flooding or areas related to climate change.
He added that environmental impact studies were not among the priorities of the government, which puts more focus on irrigation projects. Read More...
