Heatwaves in Africa are “hotter, longer and more frequent”, according to new research from the University of Illinois Chicago, which attributes these changes to “increased greenhouse gas and black carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels”.
“Raising awareness of heatwaves is critical to saving human life,” said Akintomide Afolayan Akinsanola, head of the Climate Research Lab and assistant professor of earth and environmental sciences in the UIC College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. “In a developing continent like Africa, where the capacity for adaptive infrastructure is relatively low, heatwaves can have greater consequences.”
Heatwaves can harm ecosystems, reduce agricultural productivity and strain energy systems, as well as being a threat to human life. Africa is uniquely vulnerable to heatwaves, UCI says, adding that extreme weather and climates in Africa are understudied due to a lack of infrastructure.
Akinsanola and his team examined the intensity, frequency and duration of heatwaves in Africa during two periods – 1950-1979 and 1985-2014 – and observed marked differences between the two.
The 1950-1979 period was characterized “by weak, infrequent heat waves, with about one occurring every three to eight years” with approximately 80% of heatwave activity attributable to natural causes. However, the 1985-2014 period saw “one or more heat waves every two years, lasting up to three times as long as in the previous period”, and these changes were mainly due to human activities like increased greenhouse gas and black carbon emissions, UCI says.
“I was surprised to see that these changes were consistent across the African subregions, not just a specific isolated area,” said Vishal Bobde, a doctoral student in Akinsanola’s lab and the study’s first author.
The researchers hope the study’s findings will help influence policy decisions to develop and improve extreme weather mitigation measures, including early warning systems.
In related news, the American Meteorological Society’s 35th annual State of the Climate report has revealed that 2024 was a record setting year – with greenhouse gas concentrations, global temperature across land and sea, global sea level, ocean heat content and glacier ice loss all reaching record highs last year. Read the full story here