This Month’s Best Photos

AS climate change and other environmental impacts continue to devastate the world, in this first series of our photo galleries we look at environmental degradation across Kenya in pictures.

PHOTO GALLERIES | ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION

A house made of plastics in Lamu. The benefits of recycling waste includes, conserving energy, reducing air and water pollution, reducing greenhouse gases, and conserving natural resources. PHOTO/MAARUFU MOHAMMED.

Women in Mombasa complaining about water scarcity. Four billion people — almost two thirds of the world’s population — experience severe water scarcity for at least one month each year. Over two billion people live in countries where water supply is inadequate. Half of the world’s population could be living in areas facing water scarcity by as early as 2025. PHOTO/MAARUFU MOHAMMED

Livestock should be given all the water they can drink because animals that do not drink enough water may suffer stress or dehydration. Signs of dehydration or lack of water are tightening of the skin, loss of weight and drying of mucous membranes and eyes.

Over time, climate change has emerged as a silent threat to wildlife, as changing weather patterns trigger shifts in habitat composition, forage availability as well as access to water. During dry spells like here in Tsavo National Park and Reserve, water must be ferried there to save wildlife. PHOTO/MAARUFU MOHAMMED

Invasive or non-native species degrade water quality by decreasing water flows and reducing the transportation of nutrients or by increasing runoff and erosion leading to hyper-eutrophication. The case of invasive weeds in Taita Taveta. PHOTO/MAARUFU MOHAMMED.

Poor waste management contributes to climate change and air pollution, and directly affects many ecosystems and species. It can also affect our heath as it can develop diseases such as asthma, birth defects, cancer, cardiovascular disease, childhood cancer, COPD, infectious diseases, low birth weight, and preterm delivery. Here in Malindi the situation is no better. PHOTO/MAARUFU MOHAMMED.

At least 14 million tons of plastic end up in the ocean every year, and plastic makes up 80% of all marine debris found from surface waters to deep-sea sediments. Marine species ingest or are entangled by plastic debris, which causes severe injuries and death. PHOTO/MAARUFU MOHAMMED

A boat made of plastics in Lamu. The benefits of recycling waste includes, conserving energy, reducing air and water pollution, reducing greenhouse gases, and conserving natural resources. PHOTO/MAARUFU MOHAMMED

Poor sewage disposal causes a wide variety of acute illnesses including diarrhoea, cholera, dysentery, typhoid, and hepatitis A. Most counties in Kenya have poor sewage disposal mechanisms are displayed here. PHOTO/MAARUFU MOHAMMED

Due an acute shortage of grazing grounds in Lamu Island due to impacts of climate climate donkeys in the archipelago are sometimes forced to feed on any type of waste endangering their lives and people who feed on their meat. PHOTO/MAARUFU MOHAMMED

EYEWITNESS AFRICA is a news website that spotlights human rights violations, transparency and accountability, democracy and good governance, gender equality, environmental degradation and conservation, climate change and biodiversity loss, deforestation and pollution, diminishing glaciers and mangrove forests, wildlife poaching and trafficking, illegal fishing, and general stories that highlight public interest issues that aim to spark reforms.