12 research outputs found
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West African monsoon 2012
Living up to its reputation as a highly variable climate system, the West African Monsoon (WAM) 2012 contrasted strikingly with the previous year. In 2011, the West African rainy season was delayed, patchy, and irregular. In 2012, whilst it was anomalously wet in many area, the Guinea coastal countries and some crucial agricultural regions remained very dry, persisting from the previous year. As a result, 2012 generated the third big food crisis to hit the region in the last seven years. The 2012 WAM forecast, observed climate conditions and the ongoing socio-economic implications for the region are reviewed here
Dominant atmospheric circulation patterns associated with abnormal rainfall events over Rwanda, East Africa
The study investigated the dominant atmospheric circulation patterns associated with abnormal rainfall over Rwanda during the MarchâMay (MAM) rainfall season in 1981â2010. The data sets used in this study include: rainfall, wind, sea surface temperature (SST), and humidity. Correlation and composite analysis and Percent of Normal Index (PNI) were deployed in this study. In the wet years (1987, 1988, and 1998), the country was dominated by moisture convergence, which is in line with wind anomalies that exhibits strong westerly winds from the Atlantic Ocean and southeasterly winds originated from the Indian Ocean. These winds carry moist air mass passing over Congo to the study area, leading to wet events. On the other hand, easterly winds were noted over the study area during the dry years (1984, 2000, 2007, and 2008). The observed wet years coincided with the El Niño events, while the dry years are noted during the La Niña episodes. The dry years exhibited a wide spread of moisture divergence anomaly at the low level and were characterized by the sinking motion as opposed to the wet years with the rising motion. The anomalies of velocity potential/divergence further showed that the wet (dry) years were characterized by convergence (divergence) at the low level. The results also show that there exists a low positive correlation between mean MAM rainfall and SST over the Indian Ocean, which shows minimum influence of the Ocean. On the other hand, it was noted that rainfall amounts is significantly correlated at 95% confidence level with the elevation (altitude) of a given station. This study improves the understanding of the occurrence of wet and dry events in Rwanda, which is helpful in future monitoring of these events
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Rapport mensuel sur la sécurité alimentaire au Rwanda
Document collected by the University of Texas Libraries from the web-site of the Reseau Documentaire International Sur La Region Des Grands Lacs Africains (International Documentation Network on the Great African Lakes Region). The Reseau distributes "gray literature", non-published or limited distribution government or NGO documents regarding the Great Lakes area of central Africa including Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.UT Librarie
Climate-Change Adaptation in Ethiopia: To What Extent Does Social Protection Influence Livelihood Diversification?
Socialâprotection programmes like the Productive SafetyâNet Programme (PSNP) in Ethiopia can play a positive role in promoting livelihoods and enhancing risk management. This article uses propensity score matching to estimate its effect on income diversification. The results suggest that receiving transfers from the PSNP, on average, did not increase farm or nonâfarm income but significantly increases naturalâresource extraction (one component of offâfarm income). While these results should be treated with caution, they suggest that the PSNP may not be helping smallholders diversify income sources in a positive manner for climate adaptation. The article concludes by arguing for the promotion of positive forms of income diversification and the further investigation of the PSNP's influence on autonomous adaptation strategies