According tho the world Meteorological organization(WMO), 2018 was the hottest year recorded. This unfortunately has been the trend since 2001. Global temperatures have been steadily increasing at least 0.4 and this has in turn come with some very disastrous effects all over the world.

This increase in temperatures is attributed to the increase of carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere reached the symbolic benchmark of 400 parts per millions in 2015 the latest year for which WMO global figures are available. It is said that this quantity will not fall below that level for many generations to come because of the long-lasting nature of carbon dioxide.

These failing conditions have always been brought to light by extreme weather events like severe droughts that brought food insecurity to millions of people in southern and eastern Africa. Hurricane Matthew in Haiti being the first category 4 storm since the 1960s. This caused widespread suffering to an already wounded community. Haiti has not fully recovered from the 7.1 magnitude earthquake in 2010

A few days ago, cyclone Idai hit Mozambique’s southern city of Beira and began moving through southern Africa, and we are starting to see the extent of the devastation it brought throughout the region.

The cyclone and its aftermath has destroyed an estimated 80-90% of Biera’s infrastructure leaving hundreds of thousands in a state of emergency. For a continent already racked by the effects of the climate crisis, Idai is another chilling reminder of the destructive power of the kind of storms that will become more common as the world warms up.

A recent Red Cross report estimated that “more than two million people have been affected in Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi.” Hospitals and health facilities across the region have sustained severe infrastructural and material damage. Hundreds have already lost their lives, and hundreds of thousands more are at risk of waterborne illness, food shortages, lack of secure housing, and more.

Fortunately this crisis can still be mitigated. It is too late now to be a pessimist and I think climate activists now have to work twice harder to get governments to commit to urgent climate action before its too late

https://www.redcross.org/about-us/news-and-events/news/2019/mozambique-cyclone.html

https://library.wmo.int/index.php?lvl=subcoll_see&id=3#.XJ6JVmDVLIV