The Climate System Analysis Group at the University of Cape Town is a unique research group within Africa. We have an eclectic mix of specialties, but most importantly we put the needs of developing nation users at the forefront of everything we do. As a result, CSAG seeks to apply our core research to meet the knowledge needs of responding to climate variability and change.
The Green Flash The green flash or sometimes referred to as Neptune’s Wink has inspired literature, artwork and myths. In the 1882 novel “Le Rayon Vert” Jules Verne describes the phenomenon as “a green which no artist could ever obtain on his palette, a green of which neither the varied tints of vegetation nor the… Read more »
This year the South African Society for Atmospheric Sciences (SASAS) conference took place in Durban at Salt Rock Hotel, hosted by the University of Kwazulu Natal under the Theme “Towards Quantifying And Qualifying The Earth’s Atmosphere”. The conference brings together a diverse research communities every year. It covered a wide range of topics including meteorology, agrometeorology, climatology,… Read more »
Since the late 1980s the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has been releasing an annual report with a summary of the state of the global climate and this year was no exception. The release of this publication coincides with the American Geophysical Union (AGU) position statement on climate change entitled ‘Human-induced climate change… Read more »
A paper titled ” Evaluation of the JULES land surface model in simulating catchment hydrology in Southern Africa” by N. C. MacKellar, S. J. Dadson, M. New, and P. Wolsk. Currently under review, comments are welcome here.
A new paper titled “On predicting climate under climate change” has been published in Environmental Research Letters. The paper, co-authored by myself and David Stainforth from the London School of Economics, suggests that current approaches to climate modelling are inadequate for providing probabilities of future climate change. While ensemble climate prediction methods are becoming more commonplace,… Read more »
Congratulations to Nkulumo, Olivier, and Sepo on their publication ”Crop response to climate change in Southern Africa: A comprehensive review” which has been accepted into Global and Planetary Change and submitted for inclusion in the IPCC process. Check it out here
(A reaction to “Climate scientists must not advocate particular policies“) Tasmin Edwards states: “But I care more about restoring trust in science than about calling people to action; more about improving public understanding of science so society can make better-informed decisions, than about making people’s decisions for them. Science doesn’t tell us the answer to… Read more »
A CSAG PhD student, Hussen Seid Endris has had a publication accepted by the Journal of Climate. The paper investigates the performance of a suite of ten Regional Climate Models simulating the historical climate of East Africa and as such falls under the CORDEX Africa activities Significant results are that the models are generally able to capture… Read more »
This year the CSAG UNITAR/C3D+ Winterschool participants visited Backsberg Estate Cellars and the Sustainability Institute for their field day. Backsberg Estate Cellars were chosen as they are the first wine producers in South Africa and one of only three in the world to gain Carbon Neutral status by sequestrating their carbon emissions. The participants were… Read more »