The Climate Reality Project -- Cape Verde

What can change in a day? Everything. On September 14, the world will focus its attention on the truth about the climate crisis. For 24 hours, we will all live in reality. Pick a faraway place or a city near you. Make it yours for one day. We’re hitting every time zone — but only once. 7 p.m. in your time zone. Choose a location and get involved.

Cape Verde --

Most people know Cape Verde through the popular “barefoot diva,” Cesária Évora, a famous singer of mournful songs called “mournos” who calls Cape Verde home.

Cape Verde is a chain of ten volcanic islands located off the coast of Senegal in western Africa. Despite its name (verde means green in Portuguese), most of Cape Verde is sandy and dry with very little annual rainfall.

When you only get a few days of rain a year, like some of the islands in Cape Verde, any change in climate is a big deal. Cape Verde is expected to get warmer and drier, worsening existing water shortages. But at the same time, this tiny nation is vulnerable to flooding from storms and sea level rise. Whether it brings too much water or not enough, climate change is trouble for this country heavily dependent on foreign aid.