By Isaac Lahai Lamin

The problem of climate change is self-evident in Sierra Leone. Over the years, the effects were damning, exerting untold suffering on residents in major towns and cities. Slum settlements were severely hit by this extreme climate shift.  [Flash] flooding resulted in the destruction of lives and properties, economic loss, and disruption of livelihoods. In major locations such as Wilkinson Road, Pa Demba Road, Hill Cut, and a host of other places, flooding was a regular occurrence. It disrupted human and vehicular movements, preventing people from going to work on time, or conducting normal businesses.

This year, climate change is experienced in the form of seasonal shift. In Sierra Leone, the typical seasons include the raining or wet season, the dry season and the harmattan season. For decades, this seasonality has been constant with unnoticeable alterations. Typically, the rainy season commences in May and ends in October with maximum precipitation in July/August. The dry season commences in November and ends in April.  The harmattan season is the shortest which occurs towards the end of the rainy season in September/October, coinciding with the end of the rainy season.

The effect of climate change has consistently fiddled with the seasonality typical of the Sierra Leone weather condition. One of the experiences underlying the seasonal pattern this year is the near disappearance of the harmattan period. During this moment, Sierra Leoneans experience extreme humid weather condition symbolised by visible dewdrop precipitations. The atmospheric condition positively affects the biodiversity by revitalising plants and animals. Forestations blossom under the hood of freshness and clean unobtrusive air. It makes life refreshing, calm and enduring. In the remote areas of the country, especially in village settings, inhabitants commute in open spaces basking around firewood. This moment was largely accentuated by storytelling and other colourful activities. It also culminated in the ushering of secret societies, mainly Bondo for women and Poro for men. Terrestrial mammals also took part in this refreshing baggage of this harmattan period.

It is also obvious that the shift in the country’s normal seasons is having a cumulative pressure on the marine ecosystem. One of the impacts lies in the degree of precipitations that occur at abnormal periods which also affects water desalinisation and the speed of currents. It is observed that the speed of the currents and desalinisation increases during the raining seasons which in turn affects fish movement and survival rate. With a shift in the rainy season into the dry season, the fishes are exposed to prolonged process of currents speed and desalinization. The result is unbearable.

This default seasonal pattern is gradually being tempered by human activities through the quest for transformation, settlement creation, and agriculture. This shift is noticeable particularly in the year 2023. The rains largely delayed to commence in May until in June/July.  Current experience indicate that the rains will continue to pour till the month of December. This means that in addition to high density of rains, thunder and lightning will continue to echo with terrific gravity. The overlapping of the rains may grossly impact the agricultural lives of farmers, especially in rural areas of the country. Plants lives are highly dependent on rains at their appropriate times within the confines of seasonality. The plants also need sufficient sunlight for their survival. The traditional dry season experienced in Sierra Leone, spanning from November to April, has always provided the needed sunlight sufficient enough to keep plants buoyant against environmental shocks. Take rice for instance, the country’s main staple food, which is largely dependent on seasonality to survive and grow. The persistence of rains into December and January reduces the amount of sunlight required to power the rice to grow and flourish. There are many other plants whose active survival depends on the normal seasonal pattern of Sierra Leone.

The compounding seasonal crisis experienced in Sierra Leone is largely precipitated by countries in the developed world where high pollution rates continue to unleash from mega industrial activities and release of CO₂ gas emissions. In Sierra Leone, pollutions are unleashed through biogas emission from fuelwood, burning of household wastes, emissions from vehicles, burning of agricultural farms and a host of deadly activities. While efforts are undertaken to reduce the use of fuelwood for cooking, the use of thermal plants for electricity generation, and a host of other smaller measures, the problem continues unabated.