Heat Stress Across the African Continent

Abstract:

Heatwaves pose an ever increasing risk to Africa. Exposure to a heat extreme can have a drastic change to an individuals’ life and in some cases can even result in death. Africa for every region and season has seen an increase in Tmax since the 1990s, exposing a growing number of people to extreme heat. We use ERA-5 reanalysis data of the UTCI – a bio-meteorological heat stress index- and temperature, to study the climatology and trends of heat at different scales. Further to this, we discuss the similarities of some notable historical heatwaves physical drivers and characteristics, aiming to provide evidence of what factors are key in these deadly meteorological events.