Rains give West African herders brief respite amid growing heat
ALESSANDRA PRENTICE FARI Sow bent over to pick a green shoot from what is normally parched earth at this time of year, tearing its leaves to show their freshness. "Thank God, this year we have grass," the herder said on a livestock reserve in northern Senegal as plump cows munched the pasture behind him. Abundant rains soaked West Africa's Sahel region in recent months, causing catastrophic floods in some areas that raised concerns about the rising costs of extreme weather. But this year's downpours also created the thickest vegetation in years, satellite data show - a vital respite for Senegal's…