Professor Chris Gordon, an environmental scientist, has issued a dire warning, stating that if Ghana’s temperatures continue to rise, 2024 will be hotter than previous years.Professor Gordon highlighted the alarming trend of rising temperatures on a national and worldwide scale and voiced his concerns, especially in view of the continuous power outages that are affecting communities in Ghana.In a Monday, April 8, 2024, interview with the Citi Breakfast Show, Professor Gordon emphasized the significant effects of rising temperatures on the general public.
He brought up a famous incident from January 2021 in Accra, where the temperature reached a sweltering 39.5 degrees Celsius, well above the usual.
Extreme temperature increases are quite concerning, particularly for people living in informal settlements who struggle with poor quality housing and little ventilation.Professor Gordon emphasized the necessity of acting immediately to address the growing threats posed by climate change.He identified a key flaw in building design, pointing out that buildings were ill-equipped to endure climatic stresses because there was insufficient space between structures and inadequate ventilation.Professor Gordon also emphasized the stark differences in living conditions across different housing classes, emphasizing that residents in air-conditioned homes have less hardships than those living in informal settlements.
“Well, unfortunately, 2024 is going to be hotter than 2023. That is the trend globally and nationally. Every year is hotter than the previous year on average. And I should point out that I just checked the record. In January 2021, Accra had a temperature of 39.5 degrees centigrade, which is almost 57 degrees higher than normal. And it is those spikes which are the problem.”
“Yes, we have made a mess, as I have been saying, for decades now. And we need to solve it. Unfortunately, I was listening to the programme. All the points made by your people in the studio, the people who have phoned in and so forth, they are all valid. The way we design our buildings, we just decimate the space in between buildings. Back in the day, we are supposed to leave 10 feet between your fence wall and the building. ”
“Now people are building one foot away from the fence wall. We have problems with the glass that you’re talking about. Everything that would make us climate-resilient, we are not doing. This is something that we at my institute, the Institute for Environments and Financial Studies, we sort of anticipated about five, six years ago, and we have developed two projects currently, looking at urban heat and health.”
