Modern drought conditions in western Sahel unprecedented in the past 1600 years

Lazar, A.; Patris, N.; Wade, M.; Perrot, O.; Fiorillo, D.; Lazareth, C.E.; Gaye, A.T.; Mitma García, N.; Zaharias, P.; Cheddadi, R.; Azzoug, M.; Janicot, S.; Khodri, M.; Carré, Matthieu; Chevalier, M.; Mignot, J.; Camara, A.

dc.contributor.author	Carré, Matthieu
dc.contributor.author	Azzoug, M.
dc.contributor.author	Zaharias, P.
dc.contributor.author	Camara, A.
dc.contributor.author	Cheddadi, R.
dc.contributor.author	Chevalier, M.
dc.contributor.author	Fiorillo, D.
dc.contributor.author	Gaye, A.T.
dc.contributor.author	Janicot, S.
dc.contributor.author	Khodri, M.
dc.contributor.author	Lazar, A.
dc.contributor.author	Lazareth, C.E.
dc.contributor.author	Mignot, J.
dc.contributor.author	Mitma García, N.
dc.contributor.author	Patris, N.
dc.contributor.author	Perrot, O.
dc.contributor.author	Wade, M.
dc.date.accessioned	2019-07-04T17:00:19Z
dc.date.available	2019-07-04T17:00:19Z
dc.date.issued	2019
dc.identifier.uri	https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12866/6859
dc.description.abstract	As climate model uncertainties remain very large for future rainfall in the Sahel, a multi-centennial perspective is required to assess the situation of current Sahel climate in the context of global warming. We present here the first record of hydroclimatic variability over the past 1600 years in Senegal, obtained from stable oxygen isotope analyses (δ 18 O) in archaeological shell middens from the Saloum Delta. During the preindustrial period, the region was relatively humid, with maximum humidity reached during the period from AD 1500 to AD 1800, referred to as the Little Ice Age. A significant negative link is observed at the centennial scale between global temperature and humidity in the Sahel that is at odds with the expected effects of latitudinal shifts of the intertropical convergence zone during the last millennium. In the context of the past 1600 years, the Western Sahel appears to be experiencing today unprecedented drought conditions. The rapid aridification that started ca. AD 1800 and the recent emergence of Sahel drought from the natural variability point to an anthropogenic forcing of Sahel drying trend. This new long-term perspective suggests that the recovery of Sahel rainfall in the last decade may only result from short-term internal variability, and supports climate models that predict an increase of Sahel drought under future greenhouse climate.	en_US
dc.language.iso	eng
dc.publisher	Springer
dc.relation.ispartofseries	Climate Dynamics
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess
dc.rights.uri	https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/deed.es
dc.subject	Climate change	en_US
dc.subject	Paleoclimate	en_US
dc.subject	global warming	en_US
dc.subject	paleoclimate	en_US
dc.subject	Senegal	en_US
dc.subject	climate variation	en_US
dc.subject	Shell middens	en_US
dc.subject	West African Monsoon	en_US
dc.subject	monsoon	en_US
dc.subject	drought	en_US
dc.subject	isotopic analysis	en_US
dc.subject	midden	en_US
dc.subject	oxygen isotope	en_US
dc.subject	Sahel [Sub-Saharan Africa]	en_US
dc.subject	shell	en_US
dc.subject	stable isotope	en_US
dc.title	Modern drought conditions in western Sahel unprecedented in the past 1600 years	en_US
dc.type	info:eu-repo/semantics/article
dc.identifier.doi	https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-018-4311-3
dc.subject.ocde	https://purl.org/pe-repo/ocde/ford#1.05.09
dc.relation.issn	1432-0894