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Northern Hemisphere Pollution a Cause of '80s Africa Drought

vinces99 writes "Decades of drought in central Africa reached their worst point in the 1980s, causing Lake Chad, a shallow lake used to water crops in neighboring countries, to almost dry out completely. The shrinking lake and prolonged drought were initially blamed on overgrazing and bad agricultural practices. More recently, Lake Chad became an example of global warming. But new University of Washington research shows the drought was caused at least in part by Northern Hemisphere air pollution. Particles from coal-burning factories in the United States and Europe during the 1960s, '70s and '80s cooled the entire Northern Hemisphere, shifting tropical rain bands south. That meant that rains no longer reached the Sahel region, a band that spans the African continent just below the Sahara desert."

9 of 158 comments (clear)

  1. Who's to blame? by twistedcubic · · Score: 4, Funny

    Ha! And you thought they were crazy when they bllamed the "White Man" for droughts in Africa.

  2. Not cooling, global waming! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Didn't anyone hand out the talking points? Coal causes CO2 emissions and global warming, not cooling! Please people, let's stay on script.

  3. It's PAYBACK by russotto · · Score: 4, Funny

    Payback, that is, for all the hurricanes they send us every year. Suck on it, Africa.

  4. Obvious solution by fustakrakich · · Score: 5, Funny

    Burn more coal in the southern hemisphere, and push the rain back north...

    --
    “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
    1. Re:Obvious solution by aevan · · Score: 4, Funny

      Flash forward 60 years of push-o-war: global drought in the northern and southern hemispheres...with a towering curtain of water banding the equator...

    2. Re:Obvious solution by amiga3D · · Score: 2, Funny

      What could possibly go wrong?

  5. Re:The real question.. by OeLeWaPpErKe · · Score: 5, Funny

    Not much, I'd say. They blamed it on:
    1) overgrazing
    2) bad agriculture
    3) global warming
    4) pollution of US and Euro factories

    How about we simply wait for 5) and blame those guys ?

  6. Re:Coal burning still a problem today by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    please! Communist dictatorships have universal healthcare. We're clearly facist state.

  7. Re:Coal burning still a problem today by Half-pint+HAL · · Score: 3, Funny

    You're not in a fascist state, and the boys'll be knocking on your door shortly to convince you of that.

    --
    Got them moderator blues I blieve I walk out the do', With these mod-points I been gettin', I 'most never post no mo'