Warming has brought extreme rain to the parched Sahel, which is seeing aquifers refill as monsoons grow stronger. But heavier downpours alone cannot explain the groundwater revival, say hydrologists, who believe efforts to harvest rainfall may also be paying dividends.

After the catastrophic droughts of the late 20th century, aquifers from Senegal to Ethiopia are refilling, water tables in Niger have risen four metres, and Lake Chad has swollen to ten times its mid-1980s size. Near-extinct scimitar-horned oryx now number over 600, and farmers have nurtured 200 million trees back onto once-bare fields.

    • ltxrtquq@lemmy.mlEnglish
      6·
      4 days ago

      The effects of these mega-storms are especially challenging in a region more used to disasters caused by the absence of rain. Niger, one of the world’s 10 poorest countries, saw tens of thousands die from famine during the late 20th century droughts. Now, it sees more deaths from floods than droughts. Fierce storms during the 2024 monsoon season inundated the capital, Niamey, and in rural areas washed away more than 150,000 mud-brick homes.

      The extreme rains are causing massive floods that kill a lot of people, but overall it’s probably better to have water.

      • Malyca@lemmy.zipEnglish
        2·
        4 days ago

        Landslides taking out entire villages. I saw an interview with a woman that lost her little boy in a landslide, not long after another landslide had destroyed much of the village. I still think about her almost every day, it’s haunting. The people paying the price are not the ones responsible.