ABSTRACT
This chapter provides insights into the environmental impacts of urban areas in Africa using the concept of the ecological footprint as a tool for assessing resource consumption supporting the human population of urban areas. It focuses on one specific parameter of the ecological footprint: energy production and use. Urban populations have higher demands for services than rural ones. The production of wood fuels is often linked to the clearing of forests which leads to loss of indigenous biodiversity, and destruction of vital ecosystems and habitats, thereby reducing the biocapacity of an area. The disposal of water after domestic or industrial use in urban Africa is not well documented. The impacts of climate change on meteorological events have seen temperatures across the continent rise in both the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, while rainfall has either increased or decreased depending on location. The role trees play as carbon stores is one of the concerns related to deforestation and its impact on biocapacity.
