New video: LaunchPAD - a climate model evaluation for Africa
LaunchPAD (Priority on African Diagnostics) is a research project that aims to improve the availability and use of climate information on 5 – 40-year timescales through climate model evaluation with an African lens, designed to improve the understanding of how models represent climate over African regions. LaunchPAD is a key part of the FCFA IMPALA legacy in improving, sustaining and progressing the African climate model work and maintaining and extending the collaboration and network between British and African research institutions.
The video provides an overview of LaunchPAD, emphasising the importance of this research in improving the understanding of climate models over Africa and in building the capacity of African climate scientists.
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New microsite on FCFA’s impact and relevance
A new micro-site on FCFA’s impact and relevance aims to highlight and signpost the impact of FCFA through three key pillars. Pillar 1 focuses on how FCFA has delivered a step change in climate science through improved understanding of what drives Africa’s climate and how it will change. Pillar 2 outlines FCFA’s novel approaches to research and engagement with government decision-makers, communities and researchers. Pillar 3 highlights how this climate information was used to address real world problems and inform development plans.
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FCFA podcast series: The African Climate Breakdown - stories about climate change
Future Climate for Africa (FCFA) has released 5 episodes in a podcast series that shares the innovative research and on-the-ground climate change stories from FCFA researchers. This series aims to engage listeners with information about climate change and its impact on Africa but also to highlight some of the key progress being made towards a more resilient future for the continent.
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Explore the impact of climate change on urban Water, Sanitation & Hygiene (WASH) in Africa through new interactive site
Climate change is expected to have severe consequences across Africa. Cities in Africa are particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change. This interactive microsite provides an overview of the status of Urban Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) systems in countries and cities where Future Climate for Africa (FCFA) has been working, and the climate risks these WASH systems are facing. It is intended to provide an insight into the relationship between future climate and effective WASH service delivery in African cities.
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NEW Policy brief: Translating Future Climate for Africa science for targeted policymakers needs
This brief summarizes a piece of work that explored the potential value of FCFA and the closely related work on climate change, impacts and adaptation in tropical and sub-tropical sub-Saharan Africa. This work is from a policymaker or planner’s perspective and has a regional- or national-level focus. Insights developed are derived from an overview of advances made by FCFA climate science in simulating climate processes over tropical and sub-tropical Africa in relation to the state of knowledge as represented by the Fifth Assessment Report of the IPCC.
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How has Future Climate for Africa improved the understanding of climate change in Africa?
Since 2015, FCFA has brought together over 200 researchers from 14 different countries to work on enhancing scientific knowledge and prediction of African climate and piloting methods to ensure impact on specific development problems. Read more about FCFA’s impact.
Mapping the invisible atmospheric ‘rivers’ that bring East Africa’s rain
East Africa’s rainfall depends on water vapour moving through the lower atmosphere from the Indian Ocean into the continental interior as far away as the Congo River Basin. When the jet streams that drive this water flow more swiftly, this often results in drought conditions over countries like Tanzania and Kenya. This system’s influence may even stretch as far south as Mozambique. Read more.
 Innovative games and role-playing help West African farmers grapple with climate change
Building new climate knowledge to support the agricultural sector has been a key FCFA focus. Using novel research processes, such as the Plateau Game, FCFA is better able to understand how farmers in West Africa make agricultural and land management decisions, and how climate events influence their decision making. Read more.
Finding real-world solutions to Africa's climate and development nexus
Future Climate for Africa (FCFA), which draws to a close this year, has worked closely with countries in sub-Saharan Africa in an effort to influence real-world decision-making in the context of climate change, including to address city-based development issues such as the overlap between urban sanitation and flood risk. Read more.
Climate researchers from across Africa build their capacity in Python programming at FCFA & GCRF African SWIFT workshop
In a collaborative effort, Future Climate for Africa (FCFA) and GCRF African-SWIFT organised a one-week online Python workshop (7 – 12 June 2021) for researchers in Atmospheric Science and Meteorology and forecasters at operational weather centres based in Africa with a keen interest in developing their data analysis skills. Read more.
Understanding the impact of climate change on urban WASH in Africa through new interactive site
An interactive site recently published by Future Climate for Africa (FCFA) showcases the research of FCFA in urban Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) systems across the continent. It provides an overview of the status of urban WASH systems in countries and cities where FCFA has been working and the climate risks these WASH systems are facing. Further, it aims to highlight the relationship between future climate and effective WASH service delivery in African cities. Read more.
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Recent journal articles by FCFA researchers
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Klein C, Nkrumah F, Taylora C, Adefisan E (2021). Seasonality and Trends of Drivers of Mesoscale Convective Systems in Southern West Africa. Journal of Climate.
Rowell D, Fitzpatrick R, Jackson L, Redmond G. (2021). Understanding Intermodel Variability in Future Projections of a Sahelian Storm Proxy and Southern Saharan Warming. Journal of Climate.
Ward N, Fink A, Keane R, Guichard F, Marsham J, Parker D, Taylor C. (2021). Synoptic timescale linkage between midlatitude winter troughs Sahara temperature patterns and northern Congo rainfall: A building block of regional climate variability. International Journal of Climatology.
Wilcox C, Aly C, Vischel T, Panthou G, Blanchet J, Quantin G, Lebel T. (2021). Stochastorm: A stochastic rainfall simulator for convective storms. Journal of Hydrometeorology.
Harvey, B., Huang, Y., Araujo, J., Vincent K., Roux, J., Rouhaud, E., Visman, E (2021). Mobilizing Climate Information for Decision-Making in Africa: Contrasting User-Centered and Knowledge-Centered Approaches. Frontiers in Climate.
Mubaya, C.P., Ndebele-Murisaa, M.R., Mamombe, R (2020). Alternative inclusive approaches for improving climate information services and decision-making in Harare, Zimbabwe. Urban Climate.
Daniels, E., Bharwani, S., Swartling, A.G., Vulturius, G., Brandon, K (2020). Refocusing the climate services lens: Introducing a framework for co-designing “transdisciplinary knowledge integration processes” to build climate resilience. Climate Services.
Macadam I, Rowell D, Steptoe H (2020). Refining projections of future temperature change in West Africa. Climate Research.
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