A moving account of Madagascar told by a researcher who has spent over fifty years investigating the mysteries of this remarkable island.
The south of Madagascar is currently beset by extended drought and famine, and Madagascar was held up as a posterchild for the devastation wrought by climate change at the 2021 UN Conference in Glasgow (COP26). But this characterization of the present drought has been challenged: rainfall failures are typical of the region, and non-climate shocks and stresses more likely responsible for what is happening today.
The researcher offers an additional perspective in this lecture. Unpredictability and hypervariability have characterized Madagascar’s climate for millions of years. Evolutionary adaptations to these conditions are widespread among the island’s unique wildlife, and over the past thousand years Malagasy farmers have themselves developed coping strategies. The long-term climate changes ahead are not in doubt, but both the wildlife and people of Madagascar may be better prepared to respond to them than is generally appreciated.