Maputo, 22 Mar (AIM) – The year 2023 was the hottest year on record in Mozambique, with a temperature of 0.7 degrees Celsius above the average for the previous 43 years, according to the Annual State of the Climate Report.
According to the Minister of Transport and Communications, Mateus Magala, who was speaking, in Maputo, on Thursday, at the launch of the report, Mozambique has been experiencing extreme events in recent years, including floods, cyclones and tropical storms, of which the latest, storm Filippo, swept through southern Mozambique earlier this month.
“These phenomena resulted in a strong negative impact on the economy, as well as causing the loss of hundreds of human lives”, the minister said.
“The increase in temperature recorded in recent years is influencing the rise in sea levels, the intensity and sequence of floods and droughts, the evolution of species, the degradation of agricultural crops, the spread of infectious diseases, among other phenomena that threaten the stability and sustainability of human life on earth”, he added.
In order to face this new reality, according to Magala, Mozambique must reposition itself in the global debate on climate change, looking for measures to strengthen its economy and the communities living in risk-prone areas.
“In 2021, Mozambique started producing reports on the annual state of the climate, in which scientific evidence of climate change in the country is a reality”, he said.
The Minister added that the Annual State of the Climate Report is a climate monitoring tool that helps small producers to plan, monitor and make assertive decisions in their activities, especially in farming in arid and semi-arid areas.
“This instrument not only supports the agriculture sector, but also the hydrology, livestock management and public health sectors, with a view to strengthening the resilience of affected communities”, Magala said.
The country currently has six provincial climate bulletins, covering the central provinces of Manica, Tete, and Sofala, and the southern provinces of Inhambane, Gaza and Maputo.
The launch of the Annual State of the Climate Report comes ahead of the celebration of 23 March, “World Meteorological Day”, which takes place on Saturday, and will be held under the slogan “At the forefront of climate action.”
“The motto chosen highlights the battle that we must wage, relentlessly, against the threat imposed on all human civilization by climate change, the effects of which are visible and could be catastrophic if we don’t act now”, Magala said.
The Minister promised two new radar stations for this year, which will improve meteorological forecasting.
Magala said the country needs a minimum of seven radar stations – at the moment, it only has one.
(AIM)
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