Human impact upon climate in West Africa

Man affects weather and climate in West Africa at three levels of scale, in three main ways and by three main processes. These are the microscale, the mesoscale, and the macroscale. In the period 1958 to 1974 a rise of 14 ppm of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) was noted from observations in even less ‘polluted’ areas than West Africa, i.e. in Hawaii and Antarctica. The destruction of the forests, so appalling in West Africa, can also raise atmospheric CO₂ levels, not only as the consequence of burning and pollution but also because forests are absorbers of CO₂ and important producers of O₂. Air pollution depends upon the quantities and types of pollutants, their rate of dispersion and the diffusion properties of the atmosphere. Less rainfall will deplete the natural or semi-natural vegetation thus producing self-perpetuating damage to the environment, to agriculture and to human well-being.