Key factors in African climate change evaluated by a regional climate model

Abstract: Rainfall variability and scarce freshwater availability represent the major limiting factors for West African economies and ecosystems. Given a remarkable increase in population density and agricultural needs, it is of basic importance to improve our knowledge of the climatic processes, which affect the amount and distribution of rainfall over tropical and subtropical Africa. The present study is dedicated to the main players in African climate variability with special emphasis on future climate changes. A regional climate model is run over Africa in order to quantify and compare the individual effects of oceanic heating, greenhouse forcing, vegetation loss and soil degradation with each other. The numerical model is found to reproduce the recent climate in excellent agreement with the observations. Especially, the simulated monsoon circulation and rainfall distribution are most realistic. Rainfall variability is primarily related to changes in the tropical sea surface temperatures.... https://www.erdkunde.uni-bonn.de/article/view/2533

Object Details

• Location: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Frankfurt am Main
• Extent: Online-Ressource
• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Key factors in African climate change evaluated by a regional climate model ; volume:58 ; number:4 ; year:2004 ; Erdkunde ; 58, Heft 4 (2004)

Contributors, Places and Time

• Creator: Paeth, Heiko

Further information

• DOI: 10.3112/erdkunde.2004.04.02
• URN: urn:nbn:de:101:1-2410281837453.031016117072
• Rights: Open Access; Der Zugriff auf das Objekt ist unbeschränkt möglich.
• Last update: 15.08.2025, 7:20 AM CEST