Chapter 2

Threats to Tanganyika

Humans have transformed the world around us. In fact, we’ve become so good at changing the natural world that many scientists have declared the dawn of a new geological epoch. The Jurassic was the age of the dinosaurs. Now we are in the Anthropocene - the age of man. With a warming climate and agricultural lands now covering nearly half of Earth’s land surface, there’s hardly a corner left on the planet that remains untouched by us. Lake Tanganyika is certainly not exempt from these threats. But once we understand what the problems are we can start to devise solutions. We humans are a creative species, after all. So what are the threats to Tanganyika?