For several years now, the people of South Sudan have been sending invitations to climate change to visit South Sudan and establish a base. Every time an invitation is sent, climate change says a word of sympathy that, you people just ended the longest war in Africa, if I accept your invitation now, you will regret it. “The longer the war, the longer the recovery period”, says climate change. But South Sudanese insist.
With the undeserving salary of soldiers and the number of months they spend without coming, each soldier finds the forest a good place for a natural salary. With sharpened axes, pangas, and matchboxes for fire, a million trees fall down each day for charcoal. This sends exactly a million invitations to climate change.
The great tragedy is that a million trees are cut down for charcoal and not even half a tree is planted to replace the ones cut down. Another great tragedy is that deforestation takes a million steps towards South Sudan. It has become a routine activity for soldiers. They come from forests to Bilpam HQS to receive their salaries and return to forests to continue cutting down trees for charcoal.
With the widespread hunger, the citizens find it difficult to cope with life. As a result, they too pick their axes, pangas, and fire, and go to forests to cut down trees for charcoal. Charcoal-making becomes the source of income for survival. Each of them cuts down as many trees as possible. Hundreds of thousands of trees fall down and no tree is planted to replace them. This sends hundreds of thousands of invitations to climate change.
A large number of citizens living along water bodies continue encroaching on water bodies and utilizing them traditionally. This leads to the shrinkage of water bodies, thus sending another million invitations to climate change. The government, in the name of development, has waged a fierce war against mountains, chopping them down on a daily basis for the construction of roads and buildings.
With each bombardment of a mountain, it continues to lose its instinct to attract rain. The biggest fear is that the bombardment may trigger some reactions inside the mountain, and what they call a volcano may erupt. There is evidence that mountains are perishing. This sends an extra million invitations to climate change.
With the massive extraction of oil, gold, and other minerals, the environment feels threatened as no preservative measures are taken to make sure the risks of environmental degradation are neutralized. Without fear of contradiction, I must say climate change has wholeheartedly accepted to visit South Sudan.
Rainfalls used to commence in mid-March to late November, but rainfalls started in June this year, with a number of dry seasons in between. People think the ancestors were the ones having a problem! People think a certain spear master was the one having a problem! Christians think the prayers conducted were not enough to please God to release rains on time!
Pagans think the bull slaughtered was not too fat to please the gods to release rains on time! The answer is none of the above. It is climate change that has altered the natural season of rain. With this warning, if no measures are taken to reduce the impacts of climate change, then the possibility of rains not falling next year will be high.
The author is a medical student, University of Juba.