| PALEOLIMNOLOGY |
Rainfall and drought in equatorial east Africa during the past 1,100 years
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Verschuren, D. 2000 Rainfall and drought in equatorial east Africa during the past 1,100 years Nature Vol. 403, No.6768, pp.
410-414, January 27, 2000
| Data Coverage |
North: -.7635 * South: -.7635 |
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West: 36.408 * East: 36.408 |
Start Year: 1070 cal yr BP * End Year: -44 cal yr BP
Data: Please Cite Data Contributors!
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Summary: Knowledge of natural long-term rainfall variability is essential for water-resource and land-use management in sub-humid regions
of the world. In tropical Africa, data relevant to determining this variability are scarce because of the lack of long instrumental
climate records and the limited potential of standard high-resolution proxy records such as tree rings and ice cores. Here
we present a decade-scale reconstruction of rainfall and drought in equatorial east Africa over the past 1,100 years, based
on lake-level and salinity fluctuations of Lake Naivasha (Kenya) inferred from three different palaeolimnological proxies:
sediment stratigraphy and the species compositions of fossil diatom and midge assemblages. Our data indicate that, over the
past millennium, equatorial east Africa has alternated between contrasting climate conditions, with significantly drier climate
than today during the 'Medieval Warm Period' (~AD 1000-1270) and a relatively wet climate during the 'Little Ice Age' (~AD
1270-1850) which was interrupted by three prolonged dry episodes. We also find strong chronological links between the reconstructed
history of natural long-term rainfall variation and the pre-colonial cultural history of east Africa, highlighting the importance
of a detailed knowledge of natural long-term rainfall fluctuations for sustainable socio-economic development.
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