Global warming made Horn of Africa drought possible: WWA study

The drought that has left some 4.35 million people in the Horn of Africa in dire need of humanitarian aid – with 43,000 in Somalia estimated to have died last year – would not have been possible without climate change, according to an analysis released on Thursday.

Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia have endured five failed consecutive rainy seasons since October 2020, with aid groups labelling it “the worst drought in 40 years”.

But while the drivers behind the drought are complex, a team of international climate scientists with the World Weather Attribution (WWA) group found rising greenhouse gas emissions made it at least 100 times more likely.