Key factors in African climate change evaluated by a regional climate model

Large parts of tropical and subtropical Africa are characterized by a limited natural potential (ACHENBACH 1994). Among the physical causes the crucial limiting factor is deficient freshwater availability due to intense rainfall variability at various time scales (NICHOLSON 1993; SPITTLER 1994; HERBERS 1999). The most prominent feature in recent African climate was the severe drought period between the 1960s and the late 1980s (NICHOLSON 2001; LE BARBE et al. 2002), which implied enormous economic loss (BENSON a. CLAY 1998), large-scale migration processes (FINDLEY 1994; RICHTER 2000) and irreversible land degradation (MENSCHING 1993; HAMMER 2000). These partly disastrous processes are tied to a complex inter290 Erdkunde Band 58/2004