for National Geographic News Twenty-two African countries are
experiencing their worst wet seasons in decades, and climate
experts say that global warming is to blame. Devastating rains
and flash floods have affected 1.5 million people across the
continent, killing at least 300 since early summer. West Africa
has seen its most severe floods in years, as torrents swamped
the Democratic Republic of the Congo's capital of Kinshasa last
week, killing 30 people in less than 24 hours. In northern
Ghana, more than 300,000 people have been uprooted by
devastating downpours. In East Africa, meanwhile, hundreds of
thousands have been displaced and scores killed in Uganda,
Sudan, Kenya, and Ethiopia (see map). As the rains continue,
African meteorologists are warning that these events may be
fulfilling predictions that the continent will suffer some of
the worst effects of global warming. "Africa will be the hardest
hit by climate change," said Grace Akumu, director of the Kenya-
based nonprofit Climate Network Africa. "