Food Security and Climate Change

Climate Change In North Africa

Climate change poses a significant challenge for North Africa, which emits low levels of greenhouse gases (between 1.5 and 3.5 emission tonnes of CO₂/inhabitant/year) (Radhouane, 2013). It affects environmental systems, major socio-economic and agricultural developments in the region. The severity of climate change affecting these countries is related to the ecological and geographic particularity of the region. The biophysical and socio-economic conditions, as well as the state of technology in the region are the major factors behind the extreme vulnerability of the region to climate change (Scott, 2008). Rising the sea level, increasing annual mean temperatures and decreasing precipitation, which has been observed for the second half of the 20^th century in North Africa are likely to continue and to cause heater and drier conditions. The dynamical regional model REMO showed that temperatures are likely to rise between 2 and 3°C in North Africa, while precipitation is likely to decrease between 10% and 20% by 2050 (Paeth et al., 2009). Furthermore, the sea level could rise by 23-47 cm by the end of the 21^st century. Then, many Mediterranean regions would run a major risk of being submerged and eroded. The main economic and social activities in North Africa are concentrated along the coastal zones. Population within 100 km of coast is 68.8% in Algeria, 78.7% in Libya, 65.1% in Morocco, and 84% in Tunisia. Thus, sea level rise could result in major population movements and adversely affect many economic activities like tourism; a major source of employment and income in Morocco and Tunisia (Schilling et al., 2012).