Green House phenomenon and how it will Negatively Affect Ethiopia

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By:
Markos Lemma Wesenie MD
08/24/2006)

Are the floods in Ethiopia only the result of deforestation?. No they are not.
In fact, according to the news from Ethiopia, more trees have been planted in particular in the last ten years compared to the forty year period before that. The question is weather it will be enough to make a difference to save the country and the people from a looming danger and disaster.
Why flood in Ethiopia today? What are the core reasons for the flood and the havoc we are witnessing today? Is the heavy rain in the highlands going to decrease and or increase in the future? What will be the consequences of loosing the most fertile surface soil (slit) in the highlands of Ethiopia?
To be able to answer to these questions, we have to familiarise ourselves with the green house phenomenon and the green house gases and the undesirable effects they will bring to a country like Ethiopia, a country of both highlands and law lands.
The natural greenhouse effect is a phenomenon created by the heat energy radiated by the sun and greenhouse gases normally present in the atmosphere. In simple terms, sunlight passes through the atmosphere, warming the Earth. In turn, the Earth radiates this energy back towards space. As it passes through the atmosphere, greenhouse gases (water vapour, carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide) absorb part of the energy, while the remainder escapes into space. This means that some of the sun's energy becomes trapped, thus making the lower part of the atmosphere, and Earth, warmer. In other words, the "greenhouse effect" is the heating of the Earth due to the presence of greenhouse gases. Carbon Dioxide is emitted into the air as humans exhale, burn fossil fuels for energy, and deforests the planet. According to reports, every year humans add over 30 billion tons of carbon dioxide in to the atmosphere.

Deforestation is another main producer of carbon dioxide. This means that as trees absorb carbon dioxide, and release oxygen, carbon is being put into trees. This process occurs naturally by photosynthesis, which occurs less and less as we cut and burn down trees. As the abundance of trees declines, less carbon dioxide can be recycled. As we burn them down, carbon is released into the air and the carbon bonds with oxygen to form carbon dioxide, adding to the greenhouse effect.
Another green house gas is Methane. Methane is a colourless, odourless, flammable gas. It is formed when plants decay and where there is very little air. It is often called swamp gas because it is abundant around water and swamps. Livestock such as cows, sheep, goats, camels, buffaloes, and termites release methane as well. Bacteria in the gut of the animal break down food and convert some of it to methane. When these animals belch, methane is released. In one day, a cow can emit approximately half a kilo of methane into the air. Since the industrial revolution, methane has doubled, and could double again by 2050.
Nitrous oxide is another colourless greenhouse gas, this gas is released naturally from oceans and by bacteria in soils. Nitrous oxide gas risen by more than 15% since the industrial revolution. Nitrogen based fertilizer use has doubled and quadrupled in the past 15 years. These fertilizers provide nutrients for crops; however, when they breakdown in the soil, nitrous oxide is released into the atmosphere. These do not mean however, that countries like Ethiopia have to abandon the use of fertilisers.
Before the Industrial Revolution (which started in England about 200 years ago) the mix of gases that made up the atmosphere was relatively constant. Carbon dioxide has increased about 25 percent since the onset of the industrial revolution. The Earth's atmosphere is made up of 78 per cent nitrogen and 21 per cent oxygen. Only about 1 per cent is made up of natural greenhouse gases, but this comparatively small amount of gas makes a big difference. Meteorologists predict greater temperature change in the Polar Regions than near the equator. This change could cause changes in circulation of air and water. The results may be warmer temperatures in some places and colder in others, wetter climates in some places and drier in others.
Fifty or a hundred years from now will be less conducive to food production, the Ethiopian people are one of the vulnerable people in a way that Americans and west Europeans are not. Nor can the impact on their health be dismissed. Parasitic and other vector borne diseases affecting hundreds of millions of people are sensitive to climate. Fossil fuels, coal, oil, and natural gas also emit greenhouse gases when burned.
Naturally, if there are more greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, this greenhouse effect will be more significant and raise the temperature of the Earth more than if humans didn't emit as much greenhouse gases.

The world's leading scientists project that during our children's lifetimes global warming will raise the average temperature of the planet by 1-3.5 degree Celsius. In contrast the Earth is only about 3-6 degrees Celsius warmer today than it was 10,000 years ago during the last ice age.

The world has been and is interdependent on each other - green house phenomenon affects negatively both the Northern part of the hemisphere as it will affect negatively the Southern part of the hemisphere. Even so much so, those environmental changes in the highlands of Ethiopia will negatively affect the law lands. Namely, with green house phenomenon today becoming more evident, the amount and frequency of rain in the Ethiopian highlands will definitely increase and as a result washing the surface thin fertile soil (soil slit) from the Ethiopian highlands and dumping it in the law lands. But, the law lands will not be able to gain anything out of that because, 1. The green house phenomenon will bring only heat and no rain to the Ethiopian law lands and 2. the green house phenomenon will increase the temperature in the law lands drying up even the water that have reached the law lands in form of flood that will only bring havoc to both humans and animals in the law lands.
Therefore, co-operation between Ethiopians living in the law lands with once living in the high lands and vice versa is simply a matter of mutual survival. And, obviously, highly intensive and accelerated planting of trees covering all the mountains and land not used for cultivation in both the highlands and he law lands of the country is not only an extremely urgent task but is also of paramount importance simply because it is a matter of survival or death for the future generation of Ethiopians.
It is extremely important to intensify reforestation of Ethiopia within the shortest period of time possible, but it is also of primary importance to provide electric energy for each and every household use thereby eliminating the use of wood and charcoal for household use.
Ethiopia in the past 14 years have seen a double digit increase in her electric power production where promising great electric power projects are in the making and hopefully more construction will follow in the near future. I also hope that the produced electricity will primarily be used to solve the real threatening danger ahead of us all by eliminating one of the causes of the danger, by providing electricity for each and every household use, there by totally avoiding deforestation and soil erosion. Personally, I also hope that Ethiopia will also start developing her communication infrastructure in electric trains which is not only environmental friendly, but also advantageous for the economy of the country saving tens of millions of dollars for car and truck spare parts, grease and fuel but as already mentioned environmental friendly which in turn is only an additional guarantee for the survival of Ethiopia and Ethiopians.

Markos Lemma Wesenie MD

References:
1. "Greenhouse Effect" Encyclopaedia Britannica. Volume 5. 1988, p. 470
3. Cline, William R. The Greenhouse Effect: Global Economic Consequences. 1992.

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