African Myths on Climate Change and Environmental Degradation and Challenges of Development in Africa

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Nina Perpetua Waapela
Nina Perpetua Waapela
α Benue State University Benue State University

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African Myths on Climate Change and Environmental Degradation and Challenges of Development in Africa

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Abstract

African religion is a collection of the belief systems of Africans. It is one of the oldest religions of the world practiced in both rural and urban centres in Africa. The religion is known to possess many myths which play profound roles and strongly influence the understanding of the African environment, history, geography, religious ideas, medicine, and their social organisations. This paper unearths some African myths that have led to climate change and environmental degradation. The research employed extensive library study in collecting data on African myths, especially of West African peoples, which relate to climate. The paper relied on the anthropological and comparative methods of data analysis. The article is organised into segments. The first section is the introduction while the second locates the concepts of climate change and environmental degradation. The third segment identified African myths that promote climate change and environmental degradation along with their effects on the development of Africa. The research found that, African religion, besides its principal function of helping humans to live in harmony with God, the deities and with nature, possesses a certain measure of mythological dispositions leading to practices that result in bush burning/smoke emissions, earthquakes/landslides, desertification, drought, excessive rainfall and flooding, greenhouse effect, and locust invasion among other things.

References

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Funding

No external funding was declared for this work.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

No ethics committee approval was required for this article type.

Data Availability

Not applicable for this article.

How to Cite This Article

Nina Perpetua Waapela. 2016. \u201cAfrican Myths on Climate Change and Environmental Degradation and Challenges of Development in Africa\u201d. Global Journal of Human-Social Science - B: Geography, Environmental Science & Disaster Management GJHSS-B Volume 16 (GJHSS Volume 16 Issue B1): .

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Journal Specifications

Crossref Journal DOI 10.17406/GJHSS

Print ISSN 0975-587X

e-ISSN 2249-460X

Keywords
Classification
GJHSS-B Classification: FOR Code: 040104
Version of record

v1.2

Issue date

March 16, 2016

Language
en
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African religion is a collection of the belief systems of Africans. It is one of the oldest religions of the world practiced in both rural and urban centres in Africa. The religion is known to possess many myths which play profound roles and strongly influence the understanding of the African environment, history, geography, religious ideas, medicine, and their social organisations. This paper unearths some African myths that have led to climate change and environmental degradation. The research employed extensive library study in collecting data on African myths, especially of West African peoples, which relate to climate. The paper relied on the anthropological and comparative methods of data analysis. The article is organised into segments. The first section is the introduction while the second locates the concepts of climate change and environmental degradation. The third segment identified African myths that promote climate change and environmental degradation along with their effects on the development of Africa. The research found that, African religion, besides its principal function of helping humans to live in harmony with God, the deities and with nature, possesses a certain measure of mythological dispositions leading to practices that result in bush burning/smoke emissions, earthquakes/landslides, desertification, drought, excessive rainfall and flooding, greenhouse effect, and locust invasion among other things.

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African Myths on Climate Change and Environmental Degradation and Challenges of Development in Africa

Nina Perpetua Waapela
Nina Perpetua Waapela Benue State University

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