Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

The Economic, Social and Political Elements of Climate Change pp 589–601Cite as

Climate Change Impacts on East Africa

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:

Part of the book series: Climate Change Management ((CCM))

Abstract

Africa contains about one-fifth of all known species of plants, mammals, and birds, as well as one-sixth of amphibians and reptiles. These species make up some of the world’s most diverse and biologically important ecosystems, such as savannahs, tropical forests, coral reef marines and freshwater habitats, wetlands, and montane ecosystems. These globally important ecosystems provide the economic foundation that many Africa countries rely on, by providing water, food, and shelter. However, because of climate change, these ecosystems and the livelihoods that depend on them are threatened. The aim of this paper is to highlight some of the major impacts of climate change on conservation for East African countries including Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and Rwanda. As this paper illustrates, climate change in Africa is not only a conservation problem, but a socio-economic issue that must be dealt with on a global scale.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   169.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD   219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

References

  • Anyamba A, Tucker CJ, Mahoney R (2002) From El Niño to La Niña: vegetation response patterns over east and southern Africa during the period 1997–2000. J Clim 15:3096–3103

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Birkett C, Murtgudde R, Allan T (1999) Indian Ocean climate event brings floods to East Africa’s lake and the Sudd marsh. Geophys Res Lett 26:1031–1034

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cane MA, Zebiak SE, Dolan SC (1986) Experimental forecast of El Niño. Nature 321:827–832

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Channel R, Lomolino MV (2000) Dynamic biogeography and conservation of endangered species. Nature 403:84–86

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chidumayo EN (2005) Effects of climate on the growth of exotic and indigenous trees in central Zambia. J Biogeogr 32:111–120

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2001) Climate Change 2001. Synthesis report, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Craig MH, Kleinschmidt I, Nawn JB, Le Sueur D, Sharp BL (2004) “Exploring 30 years of malaria case data in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa: part I. The impact of climatic factors”. Trop Med Int Health 9:1247–1257

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davidson O, Halsnaes K, Huq S, Kok M, Metz B, Sokona Y, Verhagen J (2003) The development and climate nexus: the case of sub-Saharan Africa. Climate Policy 3S1:S97–S113

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Erasmus BFN, van Jaarsveld AS, Chown SL, Kshatriya M, Wessels KJ (2002) Vulnerability of South African animal taxa to climate change. Glob Chang Biol 8:679–693

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fick AA, Myrick CA, Hansen LJ (2005) Potential impacts of global climate change on freshwater fisheries. A report for WWF, Gland, Switzerland

    Google Scholar 

  • Food and Agricultural Organization (2004) Monitoring progress towards the World Food Summit and Millennium development goals. The State of Food Insecurity Report, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00100 Rome, Italy

    Google Scholar 

  • Funk C, Senay G, Asfaw A, Verdin J, Rowland J, Michaelson J, Eilerts G, Korecha D, Choularton R (2005) Recent drought tendencies in Ethiopia and equatorial-subtropical eastern Africa. FEWS-NET, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Githeko AK, Ndegwa W (2001) Predicting malaria epidemics in the Kenyan Highlands using climate data: a tool for decision-makers. Glob Change Hum Health 2:54–63

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hansen LJ, Biringer JL, Hoffman JR (2003) Buying time: A users’ manual for building resistance and resilience to climate change in natural systems. World Wildlife Fund, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Hansen J, Ruedy R, Sato M, Lo K (2006) NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies and Columbia University Earth Institute, New York, NY, 10025, USA, http://data.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp/2005/

  • Hély C, Bremond L, Alleaume S, Smith B, Sykes TM, Guiot J (2006) Sensitivity of African biomes to changes in the precipitation regime. Glob Ecol Biogeogr 15:258–270

    Google Scholar 

  • Hulme M, Doherty R, Ngara T, New M, Lister D (2001) African climate change: 1900–2100. Clim Res 17:145–168

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Inogwabini B, Sandokan BM, Ndunda M (2006) A dramatic decline in rainfall regime in the Congo Basin: evidence from a thirty four-year data set from the Mbali Scientific Research Center, Democratic Republic of Congo (in press)

    Google Scholar 

  • International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) (2004) Ending hunger in Africa: prospects for the small farmer. Washington, DC, USA

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaufman L, Chapman LJ, Chapman CA (1996) The Great Lakes. In: McClanahan TR, Young TP (eds) East African ecosystems and their conservation. Oxford University Press, New York, pp 191–216

    Google Scholar 

  • Kirilenko AP, Solomon AM (1998) Modeling dynamic vegetation response to rapid climate change using bioclimatic classification. Clim Change 38:15–49

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Landsea CW, Gray WM (1992) The strong association between western Sahelian monsoon rainfall and intense Atlantic storms. J Clim 5:435–453

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lovett JC, Midgely GF, Barnard PB (2005) Climate change and ecology in Africa. Afr J Ecol 43:279–281

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Magadza CHD (2000) Climate change impacts and human settlements in Africa: prospects for adaptation. Environ Monit Assess 61:193–205

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Malcolm JR, Markham A, Neilson RP, Garaci M (2002) Estimated migration rates under scenarios of global climate change. J Biogeogr 29:835–849

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • National Research Council of the National Academies (2006) Surface Temperature Reconstructions for the Last 2,000 Years, Committee on Surface Temperature Reconstructions for the Last 2,000 Years, Board of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate, Division of Earth and Life Sciences. The National Academies Press, Washington DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Orindi VA, Murray LA (2005) “Adapting to climate change in East Africa: a strategic approach.” In: Gatekeeper Series 117: International institute for environment and development

    Google Scholar 

  • Patt A, Suarez P, Gwata C (2005) “Effects of seasonal climate forecasts and participatory workshops among subsistence farmers in Zimbabwe”. In: Proceedings of the national academy of sciences of the United States of America, Vol. 102, pp 12623–12628

    Google Scholar 

  • Patz JA, Campbell-Lendrum D, Holloway T, Foley JA (2005) Impact of regional climate change on human health. Nature 438:310–317

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Plisnier PD, Serneels S, Lambin EF (2000) Impact of ENSO on East African ecosystems: a multivariate analysis based on climate and remote sensing data. Glob Ecol Biogeogr 9:481–497

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Poole JH (1989) Announcing intent: the aggressive state of musth in African elephants. Anim Behav 37:140–152

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roessig JM, Woodley CM, Cech JJ Jr, Hansen LJ (2004) Effects of global climate change on marine and estuarine fishes and fisheries. Rev Fish Biol Fish 14:251–275

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Root TL, Price JT, Hall KR, Schneider SH, Rosenzweig C, Pounds JA (2003) Fingerprints of global warming on wild animals and plants. Nature 421:57–60

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rowe DP (2001) Teleconnections between the tropical Pacific and the Sahel. Q J R Meteorol Soc 127:1683–1706

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rubenstein DI (1992) “The greenhouse effect and changes in animal behavior: effects on social structure and life-history strategies”, In: Peters RL, Lovejoy TE (eds) Global warming and biological diversity, Yale University Press, pp 180–192

    Google Scholar 

  • Siemien MJ, Stauffer JRJ (1989) Temperature preference and tolerance of the spotted tilapia and Rio Grande cichlid. Arch Hydrobiol 115:287–303

    Google Scholar 

  • Simms A (2005) Africa: up in smoke? The second report from the Working Group on Climate Change and Development, New Economics Foundation, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Solomon AM, Kirilenko AP (1997) Climate change and terrestrial biomes: what if trees do not migrate? Glob Ecol Biogeogr 6:139–148

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sykes MT, Prentice IC (1996) “Climate change tree species distributions and forest dynamics: a case study in the mixed conifer/hardwoods zone of northern Europe”. Clim Change 34:161–177

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thirgood S, Mosser A, Tham S, Hopcraft G, Mwangomo E, Mlengeya T, Kilewo M, Fryxell J, Sinclair ARE, Borner M (2004) “Can parks protect migratory ungulates? The case of the Serengeti wildebeest”. Anim Conserv 7:113–120

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thompson LG, Mosley-Thompson E, Davis ME, Henderson KA, Brecher HH, Zagorodnov VS, Mashiotta TA, Lin P-N, Mikhalenko VN, Hardy DR, Beer J (2002) Kilimanjaro ice core records: evidence of Holocene climate change in tropical Africa. Science 298:589–593

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vanacker V, Linderman M, Lupo F, Flasse S, Lambin E (2005) Impact of short-term rainfall fluctuation on interannual land cover change in sub-Saharan Africa. Glob Ecol Biogeogr 14:123–135

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Verburg P, Hecky RE, Kling H (2003) Ecological consequences of a century of warming in Lake Tanganyika. Science 301:505–507

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vice-President Office, The United Republic of Tanzania (2003), Initial National Communication Under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)

    Google Scholar 

  • Vuorinen I, Kurki H, Bosma E, Kalangali A, Mölsä H, Lindqvist OV (1999) Vertical distribution and migration of pelagic Copepoda in Lake Tanganyika. Hydrobiologia 407:115–121

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wara MW, Ravelo AC, Delaney ML (2005) Permanent El Niño-like conditions during the Pliocene Warm Period. Science 309:758–761

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Whyte IJ, Joubert SCJ (1988) Blue wildebeest population trends in the Kruger National Park and the effect of fencing. S Afr J Wildl Res 18:78–87

    Google Scholar 

  • Zeng N (2003) Atmospheric science: drought in the sahel. Science 302:999–1000

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhou G, Minakawa N, Githeko AK, Yan G (2004) Association between climate variability and malaria epidemics in the East African highlands. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 101:2375–2380

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ziervogel G (2004) Targeting seasonal climate forecasts for integration into household level decisions: the case of smallholder farmers in Lesotho. Geogr J 170:6–21

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Commerce and Business Administration, Dhofar University, 2509, Salalah, 211, Sultanate of Oman

    Muawya Ahmed Hussein

Authors
  1. Muawya Ahmed Hussein
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Wissenschaften Hamburg, Forschungs- und Transferzentrum,, Hochschule für Angewandte, Lohbruegger Kirchstr. 65, Hamburg, 21033, Germany

    Walter Leal Filho

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2011 Springer Berlin Heidelberg

About this paper

Cite this paper

Hussein, M.A. (2011). Climate Change Impacts on East Africa. In: Leal Filho, W. (eds) The Economic, Social and Political Elements of Climate Change. Climate Change Management. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-14776-0_36

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-14776-0_36

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-14775-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-14776-0

  • eBook Packages: Business and EconomicsEconomics and Finance (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation