Recent heatwaves are a harbinger of Africa’s future

This February was the world’s hottest ever recorded, the ninth record-breaking month in succession. Africa sweltered. Its southern cone was 4-5°C above the seasonal average. In some parts of west Africa the combination of heat and humidity made it feel hotter than 60°C. In recent weeks it has been the east’s turn to fry. The Horn of Africa “risks being uninhabitable” because of heatwaves, warned Ismail Omar Guelleh, the president of Djibouti.