Climate change in Botswana

Climate change in Botswana refers to changes in the climate in Botswana and the subsequent response, adaptation and mitigation strategies of the country. It is expected to lead to increased intensity of droughts and increased frequencies this is due to shorter rainy seasons and fewer rainy days. Due to fluctuation on climate and weather the country may sometimes experience heavy destructive rains.[1]

Palm trees at Khwai, Botswana in summer

Climate of Botswana
Main article: Geography of Botswana
Climate of Botswana Classifications zones

The climate of Botswana is arid to semi-arid with warm winters and hot summers and the rainfalls are highly unpredictable. Rains mostly occur from October to April.[2] The winter season is mostly dry and sunny, mild during the day but cold at night, especially in the center and south of the country. This is normally around the months of May to August.[3] The summer season which is normally from November to March, is hot and moderately rainy. There is plenty of sunshine during this season, especially in the mornings. Over the course of the year, the temperature typically varies from 41 °F to 89 °F and is rarely below 34 °F or above 97 °F.[3][4] The heat is often intense in spring around September and October, especially in the northern part of the country, however, hot days are possible throughout the country from September to April.[3][5][4]

The south-west region is the driest area, this is where the Kalahari desert is found and precipitation drops below 300 millimeters (12 inches) per year. The wettest areas, where more than 500 mm (20 in) of rainfall per year, are the north and the south-east, where Gaborone is located.[3] The country is landlocked and has a subtropical desert climate characterized by a great difference between day and night temperatures and overall humidity.[6]

semi-arid Climate

Botswana is considered very vulnerable to climate change and variability due to its low rainfall as well as the high rate of poverty that affects mostly rural areas..[7][8] Botswana experiences low rainfall and the rainfall patterns change which negatively affects the agricultural sector. Due to the state of rainfall in Botswana, which is very unreliable, there has been a reduction in hectares ploughed. Heavy rains wash away the topsoil and seeds during the ploughing season and this results in very low yields.[5][1]

Botswana's vulnerability to climate change is affected mostly by its dependence on the sectors that are easily affected by climate change; tourism, agriculture, water and health. Poverty is also another aspect that is mostly brought along by the dependence on these sectors.[9]

Temperature
Figure 2
Botswana's temperature trends between 1901 and 2020

Average temperatures have increased at 1.5 °C since the 1900s.[7] The image on the right shows the Botswana's temperature trends between the year 1901 and the year 2020. The largest changes are in November and March.[10] Botswana experience very hot temperatures during summer which ranges from November to March of which they can go as high as 38 °C in some parts of the country while winter which ranges from March to August are very cold at night and mild during the day, sometimes with common bitterly so-frost which can freeze small quantity of water.[2] In spring which is from September to October the country experiences very high temperatures which can go as high as 44 °C in most parts of the country.[11]

Precipitation
Precipitation
Daily changes in precipitation

Botswana has received below-normal rainfall and more frequent droughts.[12] Wet days in Botswana varies throughout the year. A wet day is measured at 0.04 inches of liquid precipitation. The wetter season last from October to April with 21% chance of a day being a wet day while the winter season last from April to October, July being a month with the fewest wet days with an average of 0.2 days with at least an average of 0.04 inches of precipitation. December is recorded as a month with the highest rainfall.[4]

Greenhouse gas emissions

Botswana's annual greenhouse gas emissions as at 2019 stand at 11,000.00 kt of CO2, which was a 13.25% decline from the previous year, 2018.[13]

The carbon dioxide emissions are mostly from fossil fuels; natural gas, oil, transport and buildings, the power industry also contribute to these emissions.

Impacts of climate change

Climate change is already having visible effects on the world, the earth is warming, the rainfall patterns are always changing, and sea levels are rising and these changes increase the risk of heatwaves, floods, droughts, and fires.[14]

The following are the detailed impacts of climate change in Botswana.

Biodiversity
A Biodiversity Pyramid

Climate change and its interactions with other stressors have affected biodiversity and the species with small distribution, low abundance and specialised habitats are predominantly vulnerable.[15]

Health

Currently, about 30% of the population of Botswana is exposed to the risk of malaria infection each and every year and the majority of cases occur in the northern districts with Bobonong, Tutume, Serowe, Phalapye and Boteti being in transition zone of malaria.[16] During the years of heavy rain for the risk of malaria shift westwards and Southwards. Diarrheal case incidence comes with a bimodal cyclical pattern with peaks in March (ANOVA p < 0.001) and October (ANOVA p < 0.001) in the wet and dry season respectively.[17] There is a strong positive auto-correlation (p < 0.001) in the number of reported diarrhea cases at the one-month lag level.[17] Climatic variables (rainfall, minimum temperature, and vapor pressure) predicted seasonal diarrheal with a one-month lag in variables (p < 0.001). Diarrheal case incidence was highest in the dry season after accounting for other variables, exhibiting on average a 20% increase over the yearly mean (p < 0.001)[17]

Gender

There are many causes for the differences in the impacts of climate change being experienced by both men and women this difference is range from psychological political economic and societal differences.[18] Most sustainable arable farmers however are women who farmed to improve their household food security despite the increased role and agricultural production most women do not have control over land and lack access to agricultural extensions and credit.[19][18] The numerous pages of the HIV pandemic have contributed to the limited access to productive resources services and skills all these factors make women particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.[20] Climate change represents the most complex challenge of our time and it requires concerted practice and holistic response. Across the cities the impacts of climate change affect women and men differently.[21] Women and girls experience the greatest impacts of climate change, which amplifies existing gender inequalities and poses unique threats to their livelihoods, health, and safety.[22][23]

Agriculture
Sunflower plant during the winter season In Kanngwe, Botswana.

Climate change, which comes with higher temperatures, land and water scarcity, flooding, drought and displacement, has negatively impacted the agricultural production and caused a lot of food insecurity. These has mostly affected vulnerable people putting them at the risk of hunger and food insecurity. It has been estimated that the global risk of hunger and malnutrition could increase by up to 20 percent by 2050.[24]

Adaptation and mitigation

Climate change is real and it is a huge threat to our entire civilization and the world at large. The effects of climate change are already evident and will cause great damage if we do not act now, through education, bringing and implementing innovative ideas and adhering to our climate commitments, we can make the necessary changes to protect the planet.[25]

Climate finance

Botswana intends to reduce overall emissions by 15% from the base year of 2010 by 2038 at an anticipated cost of 18.4 billion US dollars. This emissions reduction target was estimated based on baseline GHGs inventory for the three GHGs being CO2, CH4 and N2O. Covering energy, waste, and agriculture sectors.[26] This calculation does not include CH4 emissions from livestock farming, mostly from enteric fermentation, however, the country aims to implement mitigation measures for this sector.[27]

See also

References
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  2. "Climate". Botswana Tourism. Retrieved 24 March 2023.
  3. "Botswana climate: average weather, temperature, precipitation". www.climatestotravel.com. Retrieved 2023-03-25.
  4. "Botswana Climate, Weather By Month, Average Temperature (Botswana) - Weather Spark". weatherspark.com. Retrieved 2023-03-25.
  5. "Climate Risk Profile: Southern Africa". www.climatelinks.org. 31 May 2016. Retrieved 2023-03-25.
  6. "BOTSWANA'S FIRST BIENNIAL UPDATE REPORT (BUR) TO THE UNITED NATIONS FRAMEWORK CONVENTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE OCTOBER 2019" (PDF). unfccc.int. 2019-10-30. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2022-03-18. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
  7. "Climate Risk Country Profile-Botswana". Climate Change Knowledge Portal. Worldbank. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  8. "Botswana: Climate risk country profile - Botswana | ReliefWeb". reliefweb.int. 18 January 2021. Retrieved 2023-04-30.
  9. "Climate Risk Country Profile-Botswana" (PDF). Climate Change Knowledge Portal. Worldbank. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  10. "United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR)". United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR). 3 March 2023. Retrieved 2023-03-25.
  11. "Botswana climate: average weather, temperature, precipitation". www.climatestotravel.com. Retrieved 2023-04-30.
  12. "World Bank Climate Change Knowledge Portal". climateknowledgeportal.worldbank.org. Retrieved 2023-03-25.
  13. "Botswana Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions 1990-2023". Macrotrends. Macrotrends LLC. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  14. "Effects of climate change". Met Office. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
  15. Urich, Peter; Li, Yinpeng; Masike, Sennye (2021), Oguge, Nicholas; Ayal, Desalegn; Adeleke, Lydia; da Silva, Izael (eds.), "Climate Change, Biodiversity, and Tipping Points in Botswana", African Handbook of Climate Change Adaptation, Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 1193–1226, doi:10.1007/978-3-030-45106-6_161, ISBN 978-3-030-45106-6, S2CID 238974667, retrieved 2023-04-08
  16. unfccc.int/sites/default/files/resource/BOTSWANA%20THIRD%20NATIONAL%20COMUNICATION
  17. Alexander, Kathleen A.; Carzolio, Marcos; Goodin, Douglas; Vance, Eric (26 March 2013). "Climate change is likely to worsen the public health threat of diarrheal disease in Botswana". International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 10 (4): 1202–1230. doi:10.3390/ijerph10041202. ISSN 1660-4601. PMC 3709313. PMID 23531489. Text was copied from this source, which is available under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 (CC BY 3.0) license.
  18. "What does gender equality have to do with climate change?". UNDP Climate Promise. Retrieved 2023-04-11.
  19. "Gender and Climate Change: Botswana Case Study | Heinrich Böll Stiftung". Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung. Retrieved 2023-04-11.
  20. "| Heinrich Böll Stiftung". Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung. Retrieved 2023-04-11.
  21. "Gender and climate change". IUCN. Retrieved 2023-04-11.
  22. www.unwomen.org/en/news-stories/explainer/2022/02/explainer-how-gender-inequality-and-climate-change-are-interconnected#:~:text=The%20climate%20crisis%20is%20not,less%20access%20to%2C%20natural%20resources.
  23. "Explainer: How gender inequality and climate change are interconnected". UN Women – Headquarters. 28 February 2022. Retrieved 2023-04-11.
  24. CLIMATE AND HEALTH COUNTRY PROFILE – 2015 BOTSWANA, (2015), World Health Organisation, retrieved 30/04/2023
  25. "Goal 13: Climate action". The Global Goals. Retrieved 2023-04-10.
  26. "FAO.org". www.fao.org. Retrieved 2023-04-30.
  27. Botswana Country Diagnostic , May (2017), Southern African Climate Finance Partnership, https://drmims.sadc.int/ Retrieved 30/04/2023
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