CSAG is a leading international climate research centre based in Africa with broad research skills and competency in both physical and social dimensions of climate, a strong experience in engaging with society, and an excellent track record in capacity development. We prioritize societally relevant research to support responses to climate variability and change.
In this episode, we have a frank conversation about why people use, or don’t use climate information. Seasonal forecasts are presented as a particularly interesting example, because, despite the potential value of seasonal forecasts for informing decision-making in the farming sector for example, they aren’t used much. In fact there seems to be quite a bit… Read more »
On the suitability of using vegetation indices to monitor the response of Africa’s terrestrial ecoregions to drought Drought remains one of the world’s most devastating phenomena, exhibiting impacts in both magnitude and frequency. African vegetation remains highly vulnerable to drought impacts and this is heightened by a changing climate. In this study, we evaluated the… Read more »
As global temperatures rise, extreme weather events such as heatwaves, droughts, floods, and heavy rainfall will become more widespread, the IPCC sixth report concludes. A number of Climate System Analysis Group (CSAG) researchers contributed to the Working Group I component of the Sixth Assessment Report of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) which was released on… Read more »
A decade of sustained African climate science mentorship In this Episode we talk about the Coordinated Regional Downscaling Experiment (CORDEX) and in particular Cordex-Africa and the role it has played in developing the capacity of African scientists to conduct climate-related research in Africa. Dr Chris Lennard takes us through the reasons behind the development of… Read more »
Projected future daily characteristics of African precipitation based on global (CMIP5, CMIP6) and regional (CORDEX, CORDEX-CORE) climate models We provide an assessment of future daily characteristics of African precipitation by explicitly comparing the results of large ensembles of global (CMIP5, CMIP6) and regional (CORDEX, CORE) climate models, specifically highlighting the similarities and inconsistencies between them…. Read more »
CSAG hosted Prof Willem Landman (University of Pretoria) during our weekly seminar on Friday the 9th of July. Willem is one of the most experienced experts in seasonal forecasting in South Africa and internationally. The seminar provided a fascinating insight into the history, current state, and future directions for seasonal forecasting in South Africa, but… Read more »
Facilitating Urban Sustainability through Transdisciplinary (TD) Research: Lessons from Ghana, South Africa, and Zimbabwe The notion of sustainability has been integrated into many aspects of development to emphasise human needs now and in the future. Sustainable urbanization objectives are pertinent in the context of rapidly expanding African cities, in which urban inhabitants experience challenges associated… Read more »
In this episode we talk about why climate change is such a complex problem and what CSAG and others are doing to make sense of the complexity to help make climate information clearer, more accessible, and usable or actionable by those confronting climate risks. Dr Anna Taylor from UCT’s African Climate and Development Initiative speaks… Read more »
Understanding and supporting climate-sensitive decision processes in southern African cities Climate variability and change must be factored into planning, investment and management decisions in Southern African cities. Understanding the decision context and how climate information is brought to bear on city development and urban management is key to (co)producing relevant climate information. Co-production processes, supported… Read more »