Effects of Climate Change and Variability in Africa: A Review of Concepts and Evidence

Abstract

Global climate has been changing for many thousands of years and will continue to do so in the future.  While it is acknowledged that the entire climate change has always been happening even before the start of anthropogenic activities, this is perhaps the most serious problem that the civilized world is facing today. Key important phrases such as ‘climate change’ and ‘global warming’ now form part of our lives and rarely a day goes without being mentioned. There is a serious concern for the state of climate because of the strong consensus that climate change has implications on rainfall, temperature, agriculture and food security and human life styles, although climate change projections are quite diverse and vary widely across the globe. While industrialization has always been viewed as the key to wealth and better living (technological innovations, economic and social transformations of the human society), it has also been acknowledged that it affects the environment and ultimately contributes to climate change. This paper presents a review of the state of climate change and variability in Africa. We describe some common aspects on the African climate system and discuss related factors triggering its dynamics, aiming to determine social and demographic sectors vulnerable to climate change and whether there is evidence of critical thresholds beyond which climate drastically changes. With projected high temperature rise than the rest of the world, increase in the occurrence of droughts, floods and other natural disasters, Africa’s economy, its people and ecosystems are vulnerable to climate change. Immediate changes also impact on global energy budget, water resources, air quality and consequently influence changes in human lifestyles and philosophies, habitat quality and distribution of wildlife and other natural resources.