Breathing on Borrowed Time How Climate Change is Altering the day-to-day life in Kenya.

Climate change is no longer a far-off scientific caution or an issue of discussion at global conferences in most areas of Kenya. People wake up to it every day, it can be felt in the heat, it can be seen in the cracked soil, it can be measured in the increased cost of food.

On the farms of Rift Valley to the urban estates in Nairobi, weather patterns that were previously subject to predictable patterns are becoming more unpredictable. The rainy seasons are late, short or even not there at all. When it finally comes, the rains are usually too much, very fast and result in floods rather than food.

This is not just a change of inconvenience to farmers, it is a matter of life and death.

“We used to know when to plant,” says a small-scale farmer. Plant and pray now, somethings the rain does not come and all is lost.

One of the worst hit is agriculture, the mainstay of the Kenya economy and the main source of livelihood of millions of Kenya. Yields of maize, beans and vegetables have also become erratic and many families are no longer able to harvest their own harvests but rather buy them at high prices in the market.

But it is not exclusively a rural issue that climate change can be. The impacts are also evident in the towns and cities. Increased temperatures have made heatwaves to be more unbearable and irregular rains have caused water shortage in certain places in the cities. The drainage systems that are already overloaded, find it difficult to handle sudden heavy downpour and thus localized flooding occurs.

According to environmental experts, Kenya is undergoing the extended impacts of global warming which is mainly caused by the emission of greenhouse gases in the world. Nevertheless, the situation is being worsened by local pressures like deforestation, inadequate waste disposal and unplanned urbanization.

Nevertheless, despite the obstacles, initiatives to act are on the increase. Societies are starting to adopt planting of trees, climate-resistant farming, and renewable energy sources like solar energy. Universities and schools are also emerging as major places of environmental awareness campaigns where youth are being urged to become climate activists.

Non-governmental and government agencies have initiated initiatives to reclaim degraded land, as well as to encourage sustainable agricultural practices. However, specialists caution that the development should be more rapid and organized in case long-term harm will be prevented.

Climate change has become an issue and a call to action among the young people. Young movements are mobilizing via the social media to create awareness, coordinate clean-up campaigns, and demand environmentally, more serious policies.

A university student who is an environmental advocate says that it is our generation that will have to suffer the results. “So we cannot afford to ignore it.”

Nevertheless, one cannot help but feel that there is a sense of urgency. Each and every failed harvest, each and every drying river, each and every flooded street, is a reminder that the climate system is evolving at a pace that many communities cannot cope with.

But through thick and thin, there is resilience. Farmers are also trying out drought resistant crops. Cities are embracing the concept of recycling. Young entrepreneurs are coming up with climate-oriented technologies.

In Kenya, climate change is not only an environmental problem these days. It is an economic problem, social problem and above all, a problem of justice.

And when the sun scorches and parched fields and unpredictable rains challenge delicate systems, one thing is certain: the climate story is no longer in the future. It is occurring now-and-all are involved in it.