Hydrological investigation for climate change adaptations in the Kou Basin Burkina Faso.  : A Minor Field Study.

Abstract: One of the biggest upcoming challenges to the international community is the problem of a changing climate. The earth’s surface temperature is rising and associated impacts on physical and biological systems are increasingly being observed. Science tells us that climate change will bring about gradual changes, such as sea level rise, and shifts of climate zones due to increased temperatures and changes in precipitation patterns. A changing climate affects the entire world but will strike hardest against the poorest as they are the ones most dependent on agriculture which is a sector that is very vulnerable to changes in temperature and precipitation patterns. One region that will be especially vulnerable and has experienced the problems of shifting climate zones before is the Sahel region that borders to the south end of the Sahara desert where problems of desertification have occurred before. This region will in large extent be affected if the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) predictions of a rising temperature will become a reality. This is one of the reasons why I have chosen Burkina Faso, situated in the south end of the Sahel region, as the objective for my MFS. The question of rising temperatures will be especially important here as the region is very sensitive to differences in temperature. A crucial topic in this part of the world as well as the topic of this study is the process of adapting to the new climatic situation.