Climate Change Made West Africa Floods 5x More Likely
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- World Weather Attribution team concluded that climate change made the June deluge in West Africa five times more likely and increased rainfall intensity by 23% since record-keeping began
- Friederike Otto stated the climate is changing faster than most nations can adapt, emphasizing that reducing emissions is critical to slowing worsening extremes
- Joyce Kimutai led the study showing climate models, despite underestimating tropical rainfall, confirm human-caused warming worsened the floods with devastating impacts
- Coastal regions of Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Togo and Nigeria experienced over 140mm of rain in less than 24 hours in late June, overwhelming infrastructure and triggering flash floods
- At least 98 people died across the affected countries — 59 in Côte d’Ivoire since May, 34 in Ghana, and five in Togo — with thousands displaced and markets, roads, and neighborhoods inundated
- Global heating of 1.4°C above pre-industrial levels has increased the frequency of such extreme rainfall events on the Gulf of Guinea coast to once every two to four years
Why it matters: West African nations now face climate-driven disasters more frequently and intensely despite contributing minimally to global emissions, making adaptation efforts urgent and underscoring the material need for climate finance and emissions accountability from industrialized nations.
