African Climes

 Cities and urban centres house about half of mankind, with that number expected to reach three quarters of the world by 2050. By virtue of being some of the most populated areas on Earth, they are also by default the biggest consumers of both energy and water, and the biggest source of greenhouse gases. Water is paramount for all living creatures. Specifically so, majority, if not all of land based species need freshwater to survive and thrive. This includes human beings, whose population recently hit the 8 billion mark. Now, about 70% of the Earth is made up of water, and of this, 97% is salt water. The remaining 3% is freshwater, and less than half of this, about 0.05% is in liquid form. The rest is locked up in glaciers, snow and ice. Cities need a good amount of freshwater to function, and to serve the needs of the human populace, household use and all industrial activities undertaken within. In terms of energy, all means of energy production and generation require water...

Cities and urban areas host over half of the world’s population, with more than 3.5 billion people living, working or being housed in cities. This trend will continue in the foreseeable future, whereby two thirds of the entire population of the earth is projected to reside in urban areas. This makes cities a primary area of concern when it comes to climate change because of the high concentration of people, given that climate change is manmade and is a result of human activities. Sustainable cities and communities is goal 11 of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) and is interlinked with several other goals such as life on land, poverty reduction, good health, decent work and responsible consumption. As it is, major megacities are built next to the sea and other waterways. 9 out of 10 cities are seaside. Cities are important because they are centers of global trade. This is true particularly for those that are ports and so part of the shipping and fishing industries. Cities a...