When British explorer Hugh Clapperton reached Lake Chad in 1823, he encountered one of Africa’s largest inland lakes, but two centuries later, it has lost about 90% of its surface area, putting millions of livelihoods at risk and prompting renewed calls for a $50 billion plan to redirect water from the Congo River Basin

When British explorer Hugh Clapperton reached Lake Chad in 1823, he encountered one of Africa’s largest inland lakes, but two centuries later, it has lost about 90% of its surface…

In 1823, British explorers Hugh Clapperton, Dixon Denham and Walter Oudney were some of the first Europeans to document the lake and the surrounding kingdoms. He was struck at the…