Analysis of extreme rains through climate indicators in the context of climate change in southern Benin

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1b) ◽  
pp. C20A01-1-C20A01-33
Author(s):  
Ferdinand Sourou HOUNVOU ◽  
◽  
K. F. Guedje ◽  
Hilaire Kougbeagbede ◽  
Adebiyi Joseph Adechinan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
West Africa ◽  
Economic System ◽  
Entire Study Period ◽  
Entire Study ◽  
Climate Indicators ◽  
Large Growth ◽  
Southern Benin ◽  
Heavy Rains

The recurrence of flooding in recent years in West Africa is dramatically affecting the socio-economic system of most countries in the region. This work is devoted to the analysis of the heavy rains of its last years in the context of global warming in subequatorial Benin through eight rainfall indicators. For this purpose, the daily rains collected at seventeen stations in the south of Benin between 1960 and 2018, the maximum and minimum daily temperatures of the two synoptic stations in the study area between 1970 and 2018 are used. Analysis of the results shows a non-uniform trend in rainfall indicators over the entire study period. The monthly trend is in accordance with the bimodal rain regime of southern Benin for each of the climatic indicators studied. After the break in the downward trend in rainfall in the 1980s or 1990s at the various stations, the last three decades have been marked above all by ten-year averages of the various indicators that are higher than those obtained over the entire study period. Despite the low proportion of extreme rains, their frequency has increased since the resumption of rainfall in the 1980s or 1990s, especially compared to the 1970s and 1980s. The highest heights are observed for the most part in the towns close to the sea Atlantic Ocean. Global warming in southern Benin is characterized above all by high decadal temperature variation rates in the 1990s. This significant global warming in this pivotal decade is accompanied by relatively large growth in all indicators in southern Benin.

Assessing The Effects Of Climate Change On Sea Level Rise Along The Gulf Of Guinea

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-22
Author(s):  
Caleb Mensah Amos T. Kabo-bah Eric Mortey
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
West Africa ◽  
Sea Level Rise ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Climate Adaptation ◽  
Coastal Communities ◽  
Gulf Of Guinea ◽  
Oil And Gas Development ◽  
Coastal Belt

The sea level is rising due to global warming in response, by and large, to anthropogenic activities. Coastal communities along the Gulf of Guinea are low lying which makes them more vulnerable to rising sea level. Due to the topography of the Gulf of Guinea, the coastal belt is a highly erosive sandy barrier system that is susceptible to flooding. In West Africa, highlyproductive ecosystem like mangroves, estuaries, and deltas, that form the vital socio-economic activities like trade, tourism, fisheries and industrial growth due to the oil and gas development are found in these coastal communities. Therefore, majority of the population in West Africa who live in these mega cities along the coast face possible threats. Thus, climate adaptation is the only option to address these future threats as reduction in the emission of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other green house gases is not enough for now to prevent global warming which leads to sea level rise. Thus, this study seeks to investigate from other research works, how sea level rise has affected these coastal communities along the Gulf of Guinea and how the communities are adapting to these challenges to new ways of living. It concludes with a recommendation on a climate change based framework.

Modeling the impact of 1.5 and 2.0◦C global warming on the hydrology of the Faleme river basin (West Africa)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mamadou Lamine Mbaye ◽  
Khadidiatou Sy ◽  
Bakary Faty ◽  
Saidou Moustapha Sall
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
Water Resources ◽  
West Africa ◽  
Hydrological Model ◽  
Cumulative Distribution ◽  
Economic Activities ◽  
Calibration And Validation ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Impact

<p>Climate change raises many questions about the future availability of water resources in West Africa. Indeed, water in this region is a fundamental element for many socio-economic activities. This study proposes an assessment of the impact of climate change on the hydrology of the Faleme basin, located in the Sahel (West Africa). The applied methodology consists in calibrating and validating the hydrological model GR4J before simulating the future evolution of flows in this catchment under of 1.5 and 2°C global warming.  Observed rainfall, potential evapotranspiration (PET), and river flows were used for calibration and validation of the GR4J model. Furthermore, output of three regional climate models (DMI-HIRHAM, SHIM-RCA, and BCCR-WRF) were bias corrected with the cumulative distribution function-transform (CDF-t) before used as input to the GR4J hydrological model to simulate future flows at the watershed scale. During the historical period the results shows a good correspondence between the simulated flows and those observed during calibration and validation, with Nash–Sutcliffe efficiencies (NSE) greater than 70%. Projections show a general increase in mean annual temperature and PET; a decrease in mean annual rainfall is projected by the DMI-HIRHAM, BCCR-WRF models and the overall mean; while a slight increase is noted with the SMHI-RCA model. As for future flows, a downward trend in annual and monthly average flows is expected in the two sub-basins of the Faleme (Kidira and Gourbassi) with input from the DMI-HIRHAM, BCCR-WRF models and the overall mean; however,  the GR4J forced by the SMHI-RCA model output, project increased flows. Furthermore, the decrease is more pronounced at Gourbassi sub-basin than at Kidira sub-basin. Thus, recommendations were made to mitigate the likely impacts of climate change on socio-economic activities that use water resources.</p>

scholarly journals Deceleration of China’s human water use and its key drivers

2020 ◽  
Vol 117 (14) ◽  
pp. 7702-7711 ◽  
Author(s):  
Feng Zhou ◽  
Yan Bo ◽  
Philippe Ciais ◽  
Patrice Dumas ◽  
Qiuhong Tang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Economic Growth ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Growth Rates ◽  
Socioeconomic Development ◽  
Industrial Water ◽  
Entire Study Period ◽  
Entire Study ◽  
Key Drivers ◽  
Reduced Water

Increased human water use combined with climate change have aggravated water scarcity from the regional to global scales. However, the lack of spatially detailed datasets limits our understanding of the historical water use trend and its key drivers. Here, we present a survey-based reconstruction of China’s sectoral water use in 341 prefectures during 1965 to 2013. The data indicate that water use has doubled during the entire study period, yet with a widespread slowdown of the growth rates from 10.66 km3⋅y−2before 1975 to 6.23 km3⋅y−2in 1975 to 1992, and further down to 3.59 km3⋅y−2afterward. These decelerations were attributed to reduced water use intensities of irrigation and industry, which partly offset the increase driven by pronounced socioeconomic development (i.e., economic growth, population growth, and structural transitions) by 55% in 1975 to 1992 and 83% after 1992. Adoptions for highly efficient irrigation and industrial water recycling technologies explained most of the observed reduction of water use intensities across China. These findings challenge conventional views about an acceleration in water use in China and highlight the opposing roles of different drivers for water use projections.

Do Sustainability Rating Schemes Capture Climate Goals?

2019 ◽  
Vol 60 (1) ◽  
pp. 125-160 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saphira A. C. Rekker ◽  
Jacquelyn E. Humphrey ◽  
Katherine R. O’Brien
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ◽  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Global Climate Change ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Paris Agreement ◽  
Gas Emissions ◽  
Climate Targets ◽  
Climate Indicators

The 2015 Paris Agreement set a global warming limit of 2°C above preindustrial levels. Corporations play an important role in achieving this objective, and methods have recently been developed to map global climate targets to specific industries, and individual corporations within those industries. In this article, we assess whether Sustainability ratings capture corporate performance in meeting the 2°C target. We analyze nine rating schemes used by investors and three commonly used in academic studies. Most rating schemes do consider corporate greenhouse gas emissions in their analysis, whereas only a minority scale emissions by factors that have the potential to allow benchmarking against science-based targets. None take the final step of mapping climate indicators against the 2°C target. Furthermore, we find a lack of consistency in the climate change ratings of the databases used in academic studies. These results are concerning in the context of being able to meet global climate change goals.

scholarly journals Possible influence of climate change on water balance over West Africa under the global warming levels of 2 and 3 °C

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mojisola Oluwayemisi Adeniyi
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
Water Balance ◽  
West Africa ◽  
Climate Model ◽  
Water Balance Components ◽  
Spatial Spread ◽  
And Storage ◽  
Storage Change ◽  
Regional Atmospheric Climate Model

Abstract Reliable projection of water balance components for the future over a climate change vulnerable region such as West Africa is exigent for proper adaptation strategies. This paper analyses the expected water balance in the 21st century over West Africa at 2 and 3 °C global warming level (GWL) based on Rossby Centre Regional Atmospheric Climate Model (RCA4) downscaled projections. Precipitation is expected to increase at the south-western (−5 to 10°N, 15 to 25°W) ocean area of West Africa domain with SW–NE orientation, towards the Sahel, while other areas would be drier, at 2 °C GWL. This would intensify under 3 °C GWL. Responses of evapotranspiration and storage change are similar to that of precipitation except for more spatial spread of increased evapotranspiration on the ocean. Runoff would increase over the ocean, Sahara and part of Sahel and reduce in Savannah and Guinea Coast under 2 °C GWL, but reduce under a warmer world with isolated increase.

Modelling ecosystem adaptation and dangerous rates of global warming

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 221-231 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca Millington ◽  
Peter M. Cox ◽  
Jonathan R. Moore ◽  
Gabriel Yvon-Durocher
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
Diffusion Rate ◽  
Individual Species ◽  
Genetic Evolution ◽  
Rates Of Change ◽  
Rapid Climate Change ◽  
Warming Climate ◽  
Intraspecies Competition ◽  
High Trait

Abstract We are in a period of relatively rapid climate change. This poses challenges for individual species and threatens the ecosystem services that humanity relies upon. Temperature is a key stressor. In a warming climate, individual organisms may be able to shift their thermal optima through phenotypic plasticity. However, such plasticity is unlikely to be sufficient over the coming centuries. Resilience to warming will also depend on how fast the distribution of traits that define a species can adapt through other methods, in particular through redistribution of the abundance of variants within the population and through genetic evolution. In this paper, we use a simple theoretical ‘trait diffusion’ model to explore how the resilience of a given species to climate change depends on the initial trait diversity (biodiversity), the trait diffusion rate (mutation rate), and the lifetime of the organism. We estimate theoretical dangerous rates of continuous global warming that would exceed the ability of a species to adapt through trait diffusion, and therefore lead to a collapse in the overall productivity of the species. As the rate of adaptation through intraspecies competition and genetic evolution decreases with species lifetime, we find critical rates of change that also depend fundamentally on lifetime. Dangerous rates of warming vary from 1°C per lifetime (at low trait diffusion rate) to 8°C per lifetime (at high trait diffusion rate). We conclude that rapid climate change is liable to favour short-lived organisms (e.g. microbes) rather than longer-lived organisms (e.g. trees).

Climate change and food security in tropical West Africa – a dynamic-statistical modelling approach

Erdkunde ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 62 (2) ◽  
pp. 101-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heiko Paeth ◽  
Arcade Capo-Chichi ◽  
Wilfried Endlicher
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Food Security ◽  
West Africa ◽  
Statistical Modelling ◽  
Modelling Approach

Political Preferences, Personality Traits, and Environmentalism

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alistair Soutter ◽  
René Mõttus
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
Personality Traits ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Environmental Attitudes ◽  
Scientific Evidence ◽  
Political Orientation ◽  
Anthropogenic Climate Change ◽  
Political Preferences ◽  
Party Voting

Although the scientific evidence of anthropogenic climate change continues to grow, public discourse still reflects a high level of scepticism and political polarisation towards anthropogenic climate change. In this study (N = 499) we attempted to replicate and expand upon an earlier finding that environmental terminology (“climate change” versus “global warming”) could partly explain political polarisation in environmental scepticism (Schuldt, Konrath, & Schwarz, 2011). Participants completed a series of online questionnaires assessing personality traits, political preferences, belief in environmental phenomenon, and various pro-environmental attitudes and behaviours. Those with a Conservative political orientation and/or party voting believed less in both climate change and global warming compared to those with a Liberal orientation and/or party voting. Furthermore, there was an interaction between continuously measured political orientation, but not party voting, and question wording on beliefs in environmental phenomena. Personality traits did not confound these effects. Furthermore, continuously measured political orientation was associated with pro-environmental attitudes, after controlling for personality traits, age, gender, area lived in, income, and education. The personality domains of Openness, and Conscientiousness, were consistently associated with pro-environmental attitudes and behaviours, whereas Agreeableness was associated with pro-environmental attitudes but not with behaviours. This study highlights the importance of examining personality traits and political preferences together and suggests ways in which policy interventions can best be optimised to account for these individual differences.

Graubündens Wald im Fokus | Focus on the Grisons forest

2009 ◽  
Vol 160 (7) ◽  
pp. 195-200
Author(s):  
Reto Hefti
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
Natural Hazards ◽  
Positive Attitude ◽  
Production Costs ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Intensive Use ◽  
Form Part ◽  
New Challenges ◽  
The Government

In the mountainous canton Grisons, much visited by tourists, the forest has always had an important role to play. New challenges are now presenting themselves. The article goes more closely into two themes on the Grisons forestry agenda dominating in the next few years: the increased use of timber and climate change. With the increased demand for logs and the new sawmill in Domat/Ems new opportunities are offered to the canton for more intensive use of the raw material, wood. This depends on a reduction in production costs and a positive attitude of the population towards the greater use of wood. A series of measures from the Grisons Forestry Department should be of help here. The risk of damage to infrastructure is particularly high in a mountainous canton. The cantonal government of the Grisons has commissioned the Forestry Department to define the situation concerning the possible consequences of global warming on natural hazards and to propose measures which may be taken. The setting up of extensive measurement and information systems, the elaboration of intervention maps, the estimation of the danger potential in exposed areas outside the building zone and the maintenance of existing protective constructions through the creation of a protective constructions register, all form part of the government programme for 2009 to 2012. In the Grisons, forest owners and visitors will have to become accustomed to the fact that their forests must again produce more wood and that, on account of global warming, protective forests will become even more important than they already are today.

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