News From the Field
Megadroughts in Sub-saharan Africa Normal for the Region

April 16, 2009

Devastating droughts worse than the infamous Sahel drought are part of the normal climate regime for sub-saharan West Africa, according to new research. Scientists have developed the first almost year-by-year record of the last 3,000 years of West Africa's climate. In that period, catastrophic droughts occurred every 30 to 65 years, and the pattern can be expected to continue in the future, the team reports in the April 17 issue of the journal Science. Full Story

Source
University of Arizona

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