CLIMATE ANOMALIES AND EXTREME EVENTS IN AFRICA IN 2003, INCLUDING HEAVY RAINS AND FLOODS THAT OCCURRED DURING NORTHERN HEMISPHERE SUMMER

Abstract

The climate of 2003, particularly during Northern Hemisphere summer, was marked by exceptionally abnormal events throughout the world, and Africa was no exception. As record heat waves prevailed over Europe, heavy rains and floods occurred over the west-central Sahara, across the Sudano-Sahelian region and western Kenya, while drought conditions gripped the Guinea Coast and southeastern Southern Africa, and cold waves hit southern South Africa. Among the most remarkable events were record rainfall in the western portion of the Sahara-Sahel and drought conditions over the Guinea Coast that were both caused by an extreme northward penetration of the ITCZ relative to normal years. In addition, record-breaking cold weather occurred in southern South Africa in mid-August by a strong extratropical cyclone accompanied by a cold front. During Southern Hemisphere summer, Madagascar, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Malawi frequently experienced heavy rains and fl oods associated with tropical cyclones and their remnants. More than 550 people died and over 2.5 million were displaced because of fl oods in Africa in 2003. Africa's vulnerability to climate hazards could be reduced through enhancements of both short- and long-term coping strategies, climate monitoring and early warning systems, fl ood control infrastructures, and other disaster preparedness measures at all levels, including sub-regional, national, and local levels. Mechanisms that caused various events in Africa in 2003, events which can be viewed as regional responses in Africa to anthropogenic global warming, must be explored from the perspective of global change.