Imposing costs

The AP reports on the effect that global warming is having on Africa:

African nations account for a tiny percentage of the emissions but are already suffering the consequences, researchers say.

The ice cap is receding on Africa's highest peak, Mount Kilimanjaro. Desertification is spreading in the northwestern Sahel region.

Droughts, flooding and other extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and severe. Numerous plant and animal species are in decline...

Hotter, drier weather in the semiarid west of South Africa could reduce production of maize, a staple, by up to 20 percent and generate a proliferation of pests, researchers said.

In the moister areas to the east, where rainfall is forecast to increase, thickets are encroaching into productive grasslands, threatening livestock and wildlife activities.

Rising temperatures at higher altitudes could also quadruple the number of South Africans at high risk of malaria by 2020.

Not that any of this should be too much surprise to those who pay attention to the interconnectedness of actions. And I won't pretend that it's likely to convince anybody who's already unconcerned about the damage that global warming can do closer to home.

But it's still worth noting that while developed countries take all the main benefits of their consumption, they may not bear the most important costs. And it's all the more worth wondering just how our purchasing patterns would differ if that wasn't so.