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August 20, 2024

68 Million in Southern Africa Facing Severe Drought; Caspian Sea Shrinking Due to Climate Crisis
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The Southern African Development Community warned some 68 million
people, nearly one-fifth of the population of southern Africa, are
suffering from the effects of a severe climate change-fueled drought.

Meanwhile, Azerbaijan is sounding the alarm over the "catastrophic"
shrinking of the Caspian Sea due to changes in the climate. Azerbaijan's
President Ilham Aliyev said he discussed the situation with Russian
President Vladimir Putin on Monday.

President Ilham Aliyev: "From the window of the room where we held
talks, I showed Vladimir Putin the rocks that were under water two years
ago, and today they have already emerged a meter above the surface. And
we are seeing this along the entire coast of the Absheron Peninsula, and
not only there, along the entire coast of Azerbaijan."

The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water and is
bordered by Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Iran and Turkmenistan. Baku,
the capital of Azerbaijan, will host November's upcoming U.N. climate
talks.


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