Since declaring its independence in 1966, Lesotho has faced severe challenges to virtually every dimension of human security, writes Eugene Linden in a recent New York Times opinion article. In recent years, drought – coupled with widespread soil erosion and rapid population growth – has pushed a large portion of Lesotho’s two million people to the verge of starvation, which Linden calls “just one example of how fragile the future seems for Africa, large parts of which face the prospect of new famine and, in consequence, further catastrophic displacement within and among their growing populations.”

A new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences says that melting in Greenland could change ocean currents and cause unprecedented drought in Africa’s Sahel region, the Washington Post reported last week: “The consequence could be devastating agricultural losses as the area’s climate shifts. And in the most severe scenarios, tens of millions of people could be forced to migrate from the area.”