The Water Paradox in Africa in a Changing Environment

Following the study cases I explored in the previous blog posts, I will discuss the influence of climate patterns on extreme weather events in Africa. The two events worth discussing are El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD). ENSO has an influence around the Tropical Ocean, where El Niño tends to increase precipitation from warming the ocean surface, with La Nina cooling down the ocean surface and decreasing. Even though it is not geographically located next to Africa, previous studies have suggested that ENSO has influenced the amount of heavy rainfall in 1970-2000 in Eastern Africa, and it is generally considered to be a driver behind drought in Southern Africa through the inter-annual climate variability created in this region. Furthermore, ENSO has an influence on the Indian Ocean Dipole, directly involving Eastern Africa and surrounding areas of the Indian Ocean. Indian Ocean Dipole can be defined as the difference in sea surface temperature betw