Climate change in Ghana
[4] The national economy stands to suffer from the impacts of climate change because of its dependence on climate-sensitive sectors such as agriculture, energy, and forestry.
Moreover, access to freshwater is expected to become more challenging while reduced water supply will have a negative impact on hydropower, which provides 54% of the country's electricity capacity.
Stagnant water bodies which are formed as a result of some flooding occurrences, may support the breeding of more mosquitoes which will eventually cause the increase in the spread of malaria.
[10] Despite representing only 0.1% of global emissions from inflammable fuels, this rise is concerning, particularly in international efforts to mitigate climate change impacts.
West Africa is among the smallest contributors to global greenhouse gas emissions, but the nations "are already feeling the effects of the climate catastrophe disproportionately".
These figures underscore the urgent need for Ghana to transition towards more sustainable energy sources and improve the efficiency of its transportation and power sectors.
[12] Carbon dioxide (CO2) makes up the vast majority of greenhouse gas emissions from the sector, but smaller amounts of methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) are also emitted.
"Long-term gas flaring at the Jubilee Field may be inevitable" without accelerated development of infrastructure and would produce about 1.5 million tons of CO2 annually (7 percent of Ghana's total national emissions).
Recent discoveries appear to indicate oil and gas resources stretch across the country's shoreline from Cape Three Points in the west to Keta in the east.
[3] The continuous decrease in precipitation and increasing evaporation rate has the potential to cause political tension in the region as Burkina Faso plans to draw water from the Volta Basin.
Moreover, the combination of deforestation and new dams that dried up rivers has affected agriculture and, in turn, brought migration to Accra, which increased poor-quality unplanned settlements in the path of potential flash floods.
[28] Climate change alone might endanger a vital food source and way of life for Ghana by reducing possible fish catches by 25% or more by 2050.
[29] Because 54% of the national generation capacity is hydropower, unpredictable rainfall is likely to add uncertainty to a power grid already experiencing frequent outages (known as dumsor).
[27] As climate change results in more severe and frequent flooding, water source contamination and the spread of waterborne diseases are expected to increase.
Adaptation measures may be planned or put in place spontaneously in response to local pressure, such as afforestation, land rotation, building climate-resilient structures, solar-powered infrastructure, etc.
"[11] However, Ghana still needs to develop long-term contingency plans for climate change because decision-makers and local managers have an inadequate perception of the costs of dealing with such crises.
[38] As a party to the Paris Agreement, Ghana is expected to develop a National Adaptation Plan, that outlines strategies the country is taking to adjust to the changing climatic conditions.
The goal of adaptation is to reduce the impacts of the harmful effects of climate change (like sea-level rise, more intense extreme weather events, or food insecurity).
Without immediate action, crop and labor productivity will be impacted by rising temperatures and heat stress, and infrastructure and structures will be harmed by more unpredictable rainfall patterns.
