气候变化领域集成服务门户

Sudan is one of the five countries in the world most vulnerable to climate change. Over a 40-year period beginning in the late 1960s, rainfall in western Sudan dropped by 30 percent while the Sahara desert has expanded about one mile per year there. Meanwhile, temperatures in Sudan, already one of the world’s hottest countries, have been increasing. These impacts have reduced the amount of land suitable for agriculture and intensified competition for resources. Some farmers who have lost their land to desertification have turned to small-scale gold mining, which has been linked to mercury and cyanide pollution. As women in the parched region are forced to walk longer distances to obtain clean water, they are exposed to higher risks of sexual and other assaults.