Climate change impacts in the Republic of the Congo
Climate change impacts in the Republic of the Congo - what the IPCC 4th Assessment Report has found:
- Along with warming surface waters, deep water temperatures (which reflect long-term trends) of the large East African lakes (Edward, Albert, Kivu, Tanganyika) have warmed by 0.2 to 0.7°C since the early 1900s [1.3.2.3]
- Deep tropical lakes, are experiencing reduced algal abundance and declines in productivity because stronger stratification reduces upwelling of nutrient-rich deep water. Primary productivity in Lake Tanganyika may have decreased by up to 20% over the past 200 years, and for the East African Rift Valley lakes, recent declines in fish abundance have been linked with climatic impacts on lake ecosystems [1.3.4.4].
- After the 1997 flood, Lake Tanganyika rose by about 2.1m, and very high river-flows were recorded in the Congo River at Kinshasha. The heavy rains and floods have been attributed to large-scale atmosphere ocean interactions in the Indian Ocean. [9.2.1.1]
Tropical Rain Forest. Vegetation on riverbank - moist forest of the Western Congo Basin at the edge of Minkebe Reserve. Gabon.
WWF work
What WWF is doing on the ground in the Republic of the Congo to protect against climate change:
- WWF Central Africa Regional Program Office has drafted a vulnerability assessment proposal for the Republic of the Congo.
