03/15/2013
newsinideA new study has found that human-induced climate change contributed
to low rain levels in East Africa in 2011, making global warming one of
the causes of Somalia's famine and tens of thousands of deaths. Climate
scientists with Britain's national weather service studied weather
patterns in Somalia in 2010 and 2011 and found that yearly precipitation
known as the short rains failed in late 2010 because of the natural
effects of La Nina.
But Peter Scott, one of the study's authors, said the lack of long rains in 2011 was a result of climate change.
Britain
has said up to 100,000 people died from the famine. But global warming
wasn't the only cause. Al-Shabab Islamic extremists stopped aid groups
from distributing food in its territory, contributing to the deaths.