NUNZIUM

On October 14 devastating floods caused by heavier-than-usual rain hit Nigeria. More than 500 people were killed and roughly 90.000 homes are underwater as well as food and fuel supplies are blocked. The floods have impacted 1.4 million people which are currently displaced. According to the humanitarian ministry, flooding this year was similar to Nigeria’s last major flooding in 2012, which killed 363 people and displaced 600.000 people. The World Food Programme indicates that Nigeria is at risk of poverty and vulnerable to food shortage, often caused by periodic floods that put the agriculture sector under pressure. The abnormal floods in Nigeria this year are just one of the many recent signs of climate change: indeed, in the last months, we witnessed natural extreme events around the world. In September severe floods hit Italy, Japan, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, and Pakistan. Earlier than that, in August, extreme temperatures occurred in the US, China, and central EU - where serious drought put at risk harvests and drinking water availability. Such a high frequency of events due to extreme climate demonstrates not only that climate change is happening, but in some cases that it can turn into a real humanitarian catastrophe.