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Ground-based climate data show evidence of warming and intensification of the seasonal rainfall cycle during the 1960–2020 period in Yangambi, central Congo Basin

(2023) CLIMATIC CHANGE. 176(10).
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Abstract
Meteorological stations are rare in central Africa, which leads to uncertainty in regional climatic trends. This is particularly problematic for the Congo Basin, where station coverage decreased significantly during the last few decades. Here, we present a digitized dataset of daily temperature and precipitation from the Yangambi biosphere reserve, covering the period 1960–2020 (61 years) and located in the heart of the Congo Basin. Our results confirm a long-term increase in temperature and temperature extremes since the 1960s, with strong upward trends since the early 1990s. Our results also indicate a drying trend for the dry season and intensification of the wet season since the early 2000s. Ongoing warming and increasing precipitation seasonality and intensity already have a significant impact on crop yields in Yangambi. This calls for urgent development of climate-smart and dynamic agriculture and agroforestry systems. We conclude that systematic digitization and climate recording in the Congo Basin will be critical to improve much-needed gridded benchmark datasets of climatic variables.
Keywords
Congo Basin, Warming, Precipitation seasonality, Digitization, Historical data, Station coverage, cavelab, PRECIPITATION, AFRICAN

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MLA
Kasongo Yakusu, Emmanuel, et al. “Ground-Based Climate Data Show Evidence of Warming and Intensification of the Seasonal Rainfall Cycle during the 1960–2020 Period in Yangambi, Central Congo Basin.” CLIMATIC CHANGE, vol. 176, no. 10, 2023, doi:10.1007/s10584-023-03606-0.
APA
Kasongo Yakusu, E., Van Acker, J., Van de Vyver, H., Bourland, N., Mbifo Ndiapo, J., Besango Likwela, T., … Hubau, W. (2023). Ground-based climate data show evidence of warming and intensification of the seasonal rainfall cycle during the 1960–2020 period in Yangambi, central Congo Basin. CLIMATIC CHANGE, 176(10). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-023-03606-0
Chicago author-date
Kasongo Yakusu, Emmanuel, Joris Van Acker, Hans Van de Vyver, Nils Bourland, José Mbifo Ndiapo, Théophile Besango Likwela, Michel Lokonda Wa Kipifo, et al. 2023. “Ground-Based Climate Data Show Evidence of Warming and Intensification of the Seasonal Rainfall Cycle during the 1960–2020 Period in Yangambi, Central Congo Basin.” CLIMATIC CHANGE 176 (10). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-023-03606-0.
Chicago author-date (all authors)
Kasongo Yakusu, Emmanuel, Joris Van Acker, Hans Van de Vyver, Nils Bourland, José Mbifo Ndiapo, Théophile Besango Likwela, Michel Lokonda Wa Kipifo, Amand Mbuya Kankolongo, Jan Van den Bulcke, Hans Beeckman, Marijn Bauters, Pascal Boeckx, Hans Verbeeck, Kim Jacobsen, Gaston Demarée, Françoise Gellens-Meulenberghs, and Wannes Hubau. 2023. “Ground-Based Climate Data Show Evidence of Warming and Intensification of the Seasonal Rainfall Cycle during the 1960–2020 Period in Yangambi, Central Congo Basin.” CLIMATIC CHANGE 176 (10). doi:10.1007/s10584-023-03606-0.
Vancouver
1.
Kasongo Yakusu E, Van Acker J, Van de Vyver H, Bourland N, Mbifo Ndiapo J, Besango Likwela T, et al. Ground-based climate data show evidence of warming and intensification of the seasonal rainfall cycle during the 1960–2020 period in Yangambi, central Congo Basin. CLIMATIC CHANGE. 2023;176(10).
IEEE
[1]
E. Kasongo Yakusu et al., “Ground-based climate data show evidence of warming and intensification of the seasonal rainfall cycle during the 1960–2020 period in Yangambi, central Congo Basin,” CLIMATIC CHANGE, vol. 176, no. 10, 2023.
@article{01HC237WMKNE6PFHWZTSXT0M9Z,
  abstract     = {{Meteorological stations are rare in central Africa, which leads to uncertainty in regional climatic trends. This is particularly problematic for the Congo Basin, where station coverage decreased significantly during the last few decades. Here, we present a digitized dataset of daily temperature and precipitation from the Yangambi biosphere reserve, covering the period 1960–2020 (61 years) and located in the heart of the Congo Basin. Our results confirm a long-term increase in temperature and temperature extremes since the 1960s, with strong upward trends since the early 1990s. Our results also indicate a drying trend for the dry season and intensification of the wet season since the early 2000s. Ongoing warming and increasing precipitation seasonality and intensity already have a significant impact on crop yields in Yangambi. This calls for urgent development of climate-smart and dynamic agriculture and agroforestry systems. We conclude that systematic digitization and climate recording in the Congo Basin will be critical to improve much-needed gridded benchmark datasets of climatic variables.}},
  articleno    = {{142}},
  author       = {{Kasongo Yakusu, Emmanuel and Van Acker, Joris and Van de Vyver, Hans and Bourland, Nils and Mbifo Ndiapo, José and Besango Likwela, Théophile and Lokonda Wa Kipifo, Michel and Mbuya Kankolongo, Amand and Van den Bulcke, Jan and Beeckman, Hans and Bauters, Marijn and Boeckx, Pascal and Verbeeck, Hans and Jacobsen, Kim and Demarée, Gaston and Gellens-Meulenberghs, Françoise and Hubau, Wannes}},
  issn         = {{0165-0009}},
  journal      = {{CLIMATIC CHANGE}},
  keywords     = {{Congo Basin,Warming,Precipitation seasonality,Digitization,Historical data,Station coverage,cavelab,PRECIPITATION,AFRICAN}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{10}},
  pages        = {{28}},
  title        = {{Ground-based climate data show evidence of warming and intensification of the seasonal rainfall cycle during the 1960–2020 period in Yangambi, central Congo Basin}},
  url          = {{http://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-023-03606-0}},
  volume       = {{176}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}

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