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Urban Vulnerability and Climate Change in Africa pp 37–75Cite as

The Impacts of Climate Change on African Cities

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Part of the book series: Future City ((FUCI,volume 4))

Abstract

Changes in the frequency and intensity of extreme events have significant impacts and are one of the most serious challenges faced by society in coping with a changing climate.

During the last ten years, floods have caused more damage than in the previous 30 years; for example, a flood event of 22 December 2011 in Dar es Salaam led to 20 deaths, considerable damage and loss of livelihoods. Moreover, higher temperatures have led to a high rate of evaporation and very dry conditions in some areas of the world. More generally, there is evidence of a global increase in the occurrence of severe weather events.

Africa is one of the most vulnerable continents to climate change and variability, a situation aggravated by a low adaptive capacity. Adaptation policies and actions will be most effective if based on the best knowledge concerning present and future climate.

This chapter aims to highlight and quantify the impact of climate change on the African cities Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), Dar es Salaam (Tanzania), Douala (Cameroon), Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) and Saint Louis (Senegal), through the analysis of observed data and model projected changes in temperature and rainfall, synthesising the results of the CLUVA project (Climate Change and Urban Vulnerability in Africa). The climate projections were performed following emissions scenarios prepared by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Fourth and Fifth Assessment Reports, using a suite of global climate models and downscaling techniques.

The aim of the project is to evaluate the impact of climate change on the urban scale and, consequently, the possible works of adaptation. For this purpose, innovative downscaling techniques of climate projections were developed in order to achieve results at the urban scale.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering DICEA, Università di Napoli Federico II, Via Claudio 21, 80125, Naples, Italy

    Maurizio Giugni & Francesco De Paola

  2. AMRA - Center for the Analysis and Monitoring of Environmental Risk, Via Nuova Agnano 11, 80125, Naples, Italy

    Maurizio Giugni, Francesco De Paola & Maria Elena Topa

  3. School of Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science, University of Kwazulu Natal, University Rd, Westville, 3630, Durban, South Africa

    Ingo Simonis

  4. Centro Euro-Mediterraneo sui Cambiamenti Climatici (C.M.C.C.), Via Maiorise, 81043, Capua, CE, Italy

    Edoardo Bucchignani & Paola Mercogliano

  5. Centro Italiano Ricerche Aerospaziali (C.I.R.A.), Via Maiorise, 81043, Capua, CE, Italy

    Edoardo Bucchignani & Paola Mercogliano

  6. Dipartimento di Fisica “E.R. Caianiello”, Università di Salerno, 84084, Fisciano, SA, Italy

    Paolo Capuano

  7. Climate Studies, Modelling and Environmental Health, CSIR Natural Resources and the Environment, Pretoria, South Africa

    Francois Engelbrecht

Authors
  1. Maurizio Giugni
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  2. Ingo Simonis
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  3. Edoardo Bucchignani
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  4. Paolo Capuano
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  5. Francesco De Paola
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  6. Francois Engelbrecht
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  7. Paola Mercogliano
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  8. Maria Elena Topa
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Maurizio Giugni .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Technical University Munich (TUM), Chair for Strategic Landscape Planning and Management, Freising, Germany

    Stephan Pauleit

  2. Department of Geography, University of Gaston Berger, Saint Louis, Senegal

    Adrien Coly

  3. Technical University Munich (TUM), Chair for Strategic Landscape Planning and Management, Freising, Germany

    Sandra Fohlmeister

  4. University of Naples Federico II AMRA S.c.a r.l, Naples, Italy

    Paolo Gasparini

  5. Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Gertrud Jørgensen

  6. Department of Urban and Environmental Sociology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Leipzig, Germany

    Sigrun Kabisch

  7. Institute of Human Settlements Studies, Ardhi University, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

    Wilbard J. Kombe

  8. School of Environment, Education and Development, University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom

    Sarah Lindley

  9. School of Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science, University of Kwazulu Natal, Durban, South Africa

    Ingo Simonis

  10. Ethiopian Institute of Architecture, Building Construction and City Development (EiABC), Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

    Kumelachew Yeshitela

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Giugni, M. et al. (2015). The Impacts of Climate Change on African Cities. In: Pauleit, S., et al. Urban Vulnerability and Climate Change in Africa. Future City, vol 4. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-03982-4_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-03982-4_2

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