The lake turned into a desert because of the climate change

Once an important area for agriculture and fishing, Lake Faguibine in Mali is now left with bare sand dunes.

According to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) warning, the climate crisis is making an already dire situation worse, with people struggling to adapt and recover from severe impacts repeated climate shocks. Lake Faguibine located in northern Mali, 80km from Timbuktu is one of the testaments to the brutality of climate change. In the 1970s, after prolonged periods of increasingly severe drought, the water in the lake began to evaporate, decreasing dramatically. Gradually, sand dunes formed, replacing large bodies of water and arable land. Today, residents of the area can only look forward to a rainy season lasting 3 months, from July to September. During the rest of the year, temperatures in this area record prolonged hot sun, high levels heat up to 50 degrees Celsius.

For the six lakeside municipalities, the consequences were dire. Fishing has become a thing of the past, and agricultural and livestock activities have been severely reduced. The remaining people in the area were pushed to the end. They have to cut down the last remaining trees, exacerbating soil erosion and dehydration. But for some, there is no alternative if they want to survive here. "I know it's destroying the environment, but if I don't, how can I buy food?" said Alhousna Walet Alhassane, a widow living here.

According to Alhassane, the area around the lake was formerly a hub for the export of timber, livestock, fish and grain to other parts of Mali, as well as to neighboring Algeria, Ivory Coast and Mauritania. From the agricultural products produced, the local people can exchange for textiles, motorcycles, electrical appliances and spare parts. But now that climate change is taking away their source of income, poverty has arrived, and the younger generation has no choice but to leave the village and the region. Those who remain are mostly elderly, lonely, or have illnesses that prevent them from moving freely to new places.

According to the ICRC, Mali is currently considered one of the poorest countries in the world and one of the 20 most vulnerable to climate change, according to the Notre Dame Global Adaptation Initiative Index (ND- Gain). This country has been suffering from severe climate change for many years, causing vegetation to disappear, leaving only deserts or semi-deserts. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicts that the average temperature in West Africa will increase by 3.3 degrees Celsius between now and 2100, with a risk of 4.7 degrees Celsius increase in northern Mali.

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