Evidences of climate change presences in the wettest parts of southwest Ethiopia

Abstract

Climate change has been identified as a major challenge of rainfed agriculture. To contextualize whether there is climate change footprint, identification of rainfall and temperature trend at regional and local scale is helpful for designing long-term adaptation and mitigation strategies. The present study therefore aims to assess evidences of climate change presences in terms of, climate variability and trend in the wettest parts of Southwest Ethiopia. Daily and monthly historical gridded rainfall and temperature data (1983–2016) of ten stations were provided by Ethiopian National Metrological Agency. Moreover, long years historical recorded climate data of Nekemte and Bedele (1971–2020) and Sekoru (1981–2020) were used in the present study. Coefficient of variation, the Mann-Kendall non-parametric statistical test and Sen's slope estimator, linear regression analysis and the precipitation concentration index were applied to detect the presence of climate change in the southwest parts of Ethiopia. In this study, the trend package of open R software employed for trend identification and rate of change per year. The results indicate that the annual rainfall has declining trend at five stations with statistically significant at one station while the mean maximum and minimum temperature shows a statistically significant increasing trend at eight and six stations, respectively. At a seasonal scale, the amount of rainfall in the main rainy season (June to August) is dominated by a downward trend (eight out of ten stations) while, the autumn season (September to November) shows an increasing trend in all stations with statistically significant at one station. The precipitation concentration index analysis revealed that inconsistent and significantly irregular precipitation is observed at six stations (60%) of the ten stations. This study concludes that the climate of the wettest parts of Ethiopia is getting warmer and the amount of rainfall in the main rainy season has declined in the vast majority of the study area.

Spatiotemporal monitoring of drought using satellite precipitation products: The case of Borena agro-pastoralists and pastoralists regions, South Ethiopia

“…[ 61 ] around the Ethiopian Rift Valley Region found that there is an increase in the frequency of drought occurrence from 2008 onwards as compared to the past decades. Williams et al (2012) and Mekonen et al (2020) Other studies found a significant decreasing of rainfall during the rainy season in Ethiopia [ 47 , 62 , 63 ]. More specifically, Ref.…”

Climate Change Perception and Vulnerability Assessment of the Farming Communities in the Wettest Parts of Ethiopia

“…The district has a population of 86,329, of which 42,093 and 44,236 are males and females, respectively [53]. This district is characterized by a humid tropical climate and receives a mean annual rainfall of 1702 mm with mean minimum and maximum temperature variations between 11.2°C and 13.2°C and 23.8°C and 25°C, respectively [15].…”

“…The district receives maximum rain from June to September. The district receives an average annual rainfall of 1006 mm with mean minimum and maximum temperatures between 12.9°C and 28°C, respectively [15]. Teff, maize, and wheat are the main cereal crops grown in this area.…”

“…Similar to other African countries, the farming communities in SW parts of Ethiopia are vulnerable to climate change due to heavy dependence on agriculture, which is climate-sensitive. A study by [15] indicated that the amount of rainfall in the wettest parts of Ethiopia is inconsistent, and some stations even experienced a declining trend during the crop growing season. The extent of climate change vulnerability varies across regions, economic sectors, and social groups.…”

Assessment of urban thermal field variance index and thermal comfort level of Addis Ababa metropolitan city, Ethiopia

“…Similar to LST, air temperature of particular area is influenced by LULC change. Transformation of LULC change is the main cause for significant increasing trends of mean minimum and maximum temperature in the wettest parts of Ethiopia (Gemeda et al, 2021(Gemeda et al, , 2022.…”