Reduced interannual rainfall variability in East Africa during the last ice age

Christian Wolff; Gerald H. Haug; Axel Timmermann; Jaap S. Sinninghe Damsté; Achim Brauer; Daniel Mikhail Sigman; Mark A. Cane; Dirk Verschuren

doi:10.1126/science.1203724

Reduced interannual rainfall variability in East Africa during the last ice age

Christian Wolff, Gerald H. Haug, Axel Timmermann, Jaap S. Sinninghe Damsté, Achim Brauer, Daniel Mikhail Sigman, Mark A. Cane, Dirk Verschuren

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148 Scopus citations

Abstract

Interannual rainfall variations in equatorial East Africa are tightly linked to the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), with more rain and flooding during El Niño and droughts in La Niña years, both having severe impacts on human habitation and food security. Here we report evidence from an annually laminated lake sediment record from southeastern Kenya for interannual to centennial-scale changes in ENSO-related rainfall variability during the last three millennia and for reductions in both the mean rate and the variability of rainfall in East Africa during the Last Glacial period. Climate model simulations support forward extrapolation from these lake sediment data that future warming will intensify the interannual variability of East Africa's rainfall.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	743-747
Number of pages	5
Journal	Science
Volume	333
Issue number	6043
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1203724
State	Published - Aug 5 2011

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10.1126/science.1203724

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title = "Reduced interannual rainfall variability in East Africa during the last ice age",

abstract = "Interannual rainfall variations in equatorial East Africa are tightly linked to the El Ni{\~n}o Southern Oscillation (ENSO), with more rain and flooding during El Ni{\~n}o and droughts in La Ni{\~n}a years, both having severe impacts on human habitation and food security. Here we report evidence from an annually laminated lake sediment record from southeastern Kenya for interannual to centennial-scale changes in ENSO-related rainfall variability during the last three millennia and for reductions in both the mean rate and the variability of rainfall in East Africa during the Last Glacial period. Climate model simulations support forward extrapolation from these lake sediment data that future warming will intensify the interannual variability of East Africa's rainfall.",

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T1 - Reduced interannual rainfall variability in East Africa during the last ice age

AU - Wolff, Christian

AU - Haug, Gerald H.

AU - Timmermann, Axel

AU - Sinninghe Damsté, Jaap S.

AU - Brauer, Achim

AU - Sigman, Daniel Mikhail

AU - Cane, Mark A.

AU - Verschuren, Dirk

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N2 - Interannual rainfall variations in equatorial East Africa are tightly linked to the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), with more rain and flooding during El Niño and droughts in La Niña years, both having severe impacts on human habitation and food security. Here we report evidence from an annually laminated lake sediment record from southeastern Kenya for interannual to centennial-scale changes in ENSO-related rainfall variability during the last three millennia and for reductions in both the mean rate and the variability of rainfall in East Africa during the Last Glacial period. Climate model simulations support forward extrapolation from these lake sediment data that future warming will intensify the interannual variability of East Africa's rainfall.

AB - Interannual rainfall variations in equatorial East Africa are tightly linked to the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), with more rain and flooding during El Niño and droughts in La Niña years, both having severe impacts on human habitation and food security. Here we report evidence from an annually laminated lake sediment record from southeastern Kenya for interannual to centennial-scale changes in ENSO-related rainfall variability during the last three millennia and for reductions in both the mean rate and the variability of rainfall in East Africa during the Last Glacial period. Climate model simulations support forward extrapolation from these lake sediment data that future warming will intensify the interannual variability of East Africa's rainfall.

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Reduced interannual rainfall variability in East Africa during the last ice age

Abstract

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