Editorial: Extreme Events in the Developing World

This Research Topic “Extreme Events in the Developing World” showcases a selection of articles that develop our knowledge of extreme events in the developing world. Papers range from those presenting recent evidence for and future likelihood of changes in the occurrence and exposure to extreme events, together with examples of the impacts of extreme events in a variety of sectors. Papers also consider the range of climate services responses to this challenge, highlighting the need for new types of weather and climate information, new methods of producing and communicating that information in order to reduce risk, as well as providing some key examples of success stories, with a particular focus on Africa. Our intention here is to balance some of the bad news with what might work, and how we might learn from such examples.UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC); UK Government’s Department for International Development (DFID); UKRI Global Challenges Research Fund Africa-SWIFT project; NASA GPM project.https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/climatedm2022Geography, Geoinformatics and Meteorolog

Rapid Environmental Change over the Past Decade Revealed by Isotopic Analysis of the California Mussel in the Northeast Pacific

The anthropogenic input of fossil fuel carbon into the atmosphere results in increased carbon dioxide (CO2) into the oceans, a process that lowers seawater pH, decreases alkalinity and can inhibit the production of shell material. Corrosive water has recently been documented in the northeast Pacific, along with a rapid decline in seawater pH over the past decade. A lack of instrumentation prior to the 1990s means that we have no indication whether these carbon cycle changes have precedence or are a response to recent anthropogenic CO2 inputs. We analyzed stable carbon and oxygen isotopes (δ13C, δ18O) of decade-old California mussel shells (Mytilus californianus) in the context of an instrumental seawater record of the same length. We further compared modern shells to shells from 1000 to 1340 years BP and from the 1960s to the present and show declines in the δ13C of modern shells that have no historical precedent. Our finding of decline in another shelled mollusk (limpet) and our extensive environmental data show that these δ13C declines are unexplained by changes to the coastal food web, upwelling regime, or local circulation. Our observed decline in shell δ13C parallels other signs of rapid changes to the nearshore carbon cycle in the Pacific, including a decline in pH that is an order of magnitude greater than predicted by an equilibrium response to rising atmospheric CO2, the presence of low pH water throughout the region, and a record of a similarly steep decline in δ13C in algae in the Gulf of Alaska. These unprecedented changes and the lack of a clear causal variable underscores the need for better quantifying carbon dynamics in nearshore environments

Climate change and desertification in South Africa – science and response

Despite significant attention paid to desertification and climate change in the last few decades, interactions between the phenomena, as well as implications thereof, have received less of a focus. Such a trend is particularly marked in the science–policy arena, at multiple scales.  Reynolds et al. (2007) observe, for example, the lack of a focused international science programme in desertification – a gap that may compound the problem. This article seeks to unpack two-way interactions between climate change and desertification, using selected  case studies from the South and southern African, and global, contexts. It considers emerging approaches to responding to climate change in the context of desertification, emphasising the need for improved integrated biophysical and social science approaches, a focus on multiple synergies and cross-sectoral strategies, and the need for  improved communication across the science–policy divide.Keywords: climate change; land degradation; southern AfricaAfrican Journal of Range & Forage Science 2009, 26(3): 127–13

Climate change, groundwater and intensive commercial farming in the semi-arid northern Sandveld, South Africa

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Effect of drought on communal livestock farmers in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa:

Despite the size of the informal small-scale farming sector and its livestock holdings in South Africa, there has been little detailed work to assess how livestock populations are affected by drought. South Africa experienced a major drought in 2015–2016. We analysed goat and cattle census data from the Msinga area in KwaZulu-Natal, which represent the livestock of some 3 000 households. Cattle farmers in the study area lost 43% of the herd, compared with 29% for goats, in 2015–2016. Three years after the drought, cattle numbers remained depressed, whereas goat numbers had recovered. Larger herds suffered lower mortality rates, suggesting that owners of larger herds had better means to support their herds. Support to reduce drought losses and aid recovery should take into consideration the different capabilities and requirements of small and large herd owners. Effects of high stocking rates and resource condition on mortality and herd growth were apparent during the drought year of 2016, but not the other years. Most die-offs appear to have been concentrated in a short period once forage and water resources became too scarce and far to reach. Recognising when this threshold is imminent would be useful for targeting strategic interventions

Adapting to climate change to sustain food security

Climate change poses considerable challenges to food security. Adapting food systems both to enhance food security for the poor and vulnerable and to prevent future negative impacts from climate change will require attention to more than just agricultural production. This article surveys the multiple components of food security, particularly those relating to access and utilization, which are threatened by the complex responses of food systems to the impacts of climate change. Food security can only be ensured and enhanced with a suite of interventions across activities, ranging from production to distribution and allocation. Although many studies have demonstrated the importance of policy and institutional interventions for ensuring food security after a shock, the climate change impacts and adaptation community have been slow to pick up on these lessons. This article pulls together lessons from the literature on the type of institutional interventions that could be strengthened to enable adaptation in the food system to buffer against climate change at multiple levels, from the local to the global level