African Rainfall Shifts Linked to Green House Gas Levels

New research demonstrates for the first time that an increase in greenhouse gas concentrations thousands of years ago was a key factor in causing substantially more rainfall in two major regions of Africa. The finding provides new evidence that the current increase in greenhouse gases will have an important impact on Africa's future climate.

The study, led by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), is being published this week in Science.

"The future impact of greenhouse gases on rainfall in Africa is a critical socioeconomic issue," said NCAR scientist Bette Otto-Bliesner, the lead author. "Africa's climate seems destined to change, with far-reaching implications for water resources and agriculture."

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As the ice sheets that had covered large parts of North America and northern Europe started retreating from their maximum extent around 21,000 years ago, Africa's climate responded in a way that has puzzled scientists. Following a long dry spell during the glacial maximum, the amount of rainfall in Africa abruptly increased, starting around 14,700 years ago and continuing until around 5,000 years ago. So intense was the cumulative rainfall, turning desert into grasslands and savannas, that scientists named the span the African Humid Period (AHP).

The puzzling part was why the same precipitation phenomenon occurred simultaneously in two well-separated regions, one north of the equator and one to the south. Previous studies had suggested that, in northern Africa, the AHP was triggered by a ~20,000-year cyclic wobble in Earth's orbit that resulted in increased summertime heating north of the equator. (In contrast, the northern hemisphere today is closest to the Sun in winter rather than summer.) That summertime heating would have warmed the land in such a way as to strengthen the monsoon winds from the ocean and enhance rainfall.

But Otto-Bliesner said the orbital pattern alone would not explain the simultaneous onset of the AHP in southeastern equatorial Africa, south of the equator, since the wobble in Earth's orbit led to less summertime heating there rather than more. Instead, the study revealed the role of two other factors: a change in Atlantic Ocean circulation that rapidly boosted rainfall in the region, and a rise in greenhouse gas concentrations that helped enhance rainfall across a wide swath of Africa.

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