Attribution of the human influence on heavy rainfall associated with flooding events during the 2012, 2016, and 2018 March-April-May seasons in Kenya
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Author(s)
Kimutai, Joyce
New, Mark
Wolski, Piotr
Otto, Friederike
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
The changing probabilities of extreme climate and weather events, in terms of frequency, intensity, spatial extent, duration, and timing is one of the most noticeable and damaging manifestations of human-induced climate change. During the March-April-May (MAM) rainfall season of 2012, 2016 and 2018, Kenya experienced high rainfall that caused both widespread and localised flooding, resulting in human and livestock deaths, destruction of infrastructure and property, bursting of riverbanks, submerging of farmlands and emergence of isolated cases of water-borne diseases. Here, we aim to quantify how the magnitude of heavy rainfall during these seasons may have been altered by human-induced climate change. We undertake a probabilistic attribution analysis using three different approaches utilising two observational datasets and two independent climate model experiment set-ups. We analyse three different seasonal heavy rainfall indices, maximum consecutive 5-day, 10-day, and 20-day rainfall, to compare the magnitude of maxima recorded in MAM 2012, 2016 and 2018 with the magnitude of maxima in a pre-industrial climate (with little or no anthropogenic influence). We find a shift towards intensification of extreme rainfall in today's climate, although these increases are not in all cases statistically distinguishable from our estimates of magnitudes in the preindustrial climate. Although we find no significant anthropogenic climate change influence, the intensification of extreme rainfall amid the observed drying trend and the projected increases in rainfall in the MAM season in Kenya, leave the already vulnerable societies with uncertainties about how to prepare for a changing climate. This study, therefore, provides a basis for an in-depth assessment of current and future trends of extreme rainfall in East Africa in adapting to changing climate risks for sustainable development in the already vulnerable and less resilient society.
Date Issued
2022-11-30
Date Acceptance
2022-11-15
Citation
Weather and Climate Extremes, 2022, 38, pp.1-13
ISSN
2212-0947
Publisher
Elsevier
Start Page
1
End Page
13
Journal / Book Title
Weather and Climate Extremes
Volume
38
Copyright Statement
© 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/bync-nd/4.0/).
Identifier
https://www.webofscience.com/api/gateway?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000904445500003&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=1ba7043ffcc86c417c072aa74d649202
Subjects
Attributable magnitude
CLIMATE-CHANGE
DROUGHT
EASTERN AFRICA
Extreme event attribution
Extreme rainfall
EXTREME WEATHER
Factual and counterfactual
HORN
Magnitude ratio
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Physical Sciences
PRECIPITATION EXTREMES
Science & Technology
SENSITIVITY
TEMPERATURES
TRENDS
VARIABILITY
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
ARTN 100529
Date Publish Online
2022-11-23