Premium
Sub‐saharan desertification and productivity are linked to hemispheric climate variability
Author(s) -
Oba Gufu,
Post Eric,
Stenseth Nils C.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
global change biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.146
H-Index - 255
eISSN - 1365-2486
pISSN - 1354-1013
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2486.2001.00405.x
Subject(s) - desertification , el niño southern oscillation , climatology , productivity , environmental science , vegetation (pathology) , climate change , north atlantic oscillation , climatic variability , geography , physical geography , ecology , geology , oceanography , medicine , pathology , biology , economics , macroeconomics
Summary Vegetation productivity and desertification in sub‐Saharan Africa may be influenced by global climate variability attributable to the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Combined and individual effects of the NAO and ENSO indices revealed that 75% of the interannual variation in the area of Sahara Desert was accounted for by the combined effects, with most variance attributable to the NAO. Effects were shown in the latitudinal variation on the 200 mm isocline, which was influenced mostly by the NAO. The combined indices explained much of the interannual variability in vegetation productivity in the Sahelian zone and southern Africa, implying that both the NAO and ENSO may be useful for monitoring effects of global climate change in sub‐Saharan Africa.