‘The gloomy forebodings of this dread disease’, climate, famine and sleeping sickness in East Africa

Endfield, Georgina H.; Ryves, David B.; Mills, Keely; Berrang‐Ford, Lea

doi:10.1111/j.1475-4959.2009.00328.x

Cited by 25 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 66 publications

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“…Using similar sources, Nash and Endfield (2008) have presented an assessment of the historical association between El Nino and rainfall variability in the Kalahari for the period 1840-1900. Allied benefits of mining diaries and hitherto unpublished documents are insights into climate related impacts such that arising from the 1816 Tambora eruption (Bodenmann et al, 2011;Lee and MacKenzie, 2010) and understanding the complex relationship between climate, environmental change and epidemic disease "(re)emergence" in East Africa (Endfield et al, 2009). …”

Section: Historical Data Rescue Climate Reconstruction and Develomentioning

confidence: 99%

Climatology in support of climate risk management

McGregor

2015

Progress in Physical Geography: Earth and Environment

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Section: Historical Data Rescue Climate Reconstruction and Develomentioning

confidence: 99%

Climatology in support of climate risk management

McGregor

2015

Progress in Physical Geography: Earth and Environment

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“…The rainfall in this region is seasonally bimodal, driven by the biannual migration of the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ), bringing moisture from both the Atlantic and Indian oceans (Nicholson, 1996). Uganda experiences two wet seasons; the first occurs between March and mid-May ("long rains" or "latter rains"; Endfield et al, 2009), and the second season is October to December ("short rains"). Most of the rain falls during the first period.…”

Section: Study Sitesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…4a). From the late 19th century, written records and observations can supplement palaeolimnological data (Endfield et al, 2009). There is documentary evidence of a dry period in ca.…”

Section: Coherence Between Records and Regional Comparisonmentioning

confidence: 99%

Expressions of climate perturbations in western Ugandan crater lake sediment records during the last 1000 years

et al. 2014

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Abstract. Equatorial East Africa has a complex regional patchwork of climate regimes, sensitive to climate fluctuations over a variety of temporal and spatial scales during the late Holocene. Understanding how these changes are recorded in and interpreted from biological and geochemical proxies in lake sedimentary records remains a key challenge to answering fundamental questions regarding the nature, spatial extent and synchroneity of climatic changes seen in East African palaeo-records. Using a paired lake approach, where neighbouring lakes share the same geology, climate and landscape, it might be expected that the systems will respond similarly to external climate forcing. Sediment cores from two crater lakes in western Uganda spanning the last ~1000 years were examined to assess diatom community responses to late Holocene climate and environmental changes, and to test responses to multiple drivers using redundancy analysis (RDA). These archives provide annual to sub-decadal records of environmental change. Lakes Nyamogusingiri and Kyasanduka appear to operate as independent systems in their recording of a similar hydrological response signal via distinct diatom records. However, whilst their fossil diatom records demonstrate an individualistic, indirect response to external (e.g. climatic) drivers, the inferred lake levels show similar overall trends and reflect the broader patterns observed in Uganda and across East Africa. The lakes appear to be sensitive to large-scale climatic perturbations, with evidence of a dry Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA; ca. AD 1000–1200). The diatom record from Lake Nyamogusingiri suggests a drying climate during the main phase of the Little Ice Age (LIA) (ca. AD 1600–1800), whereas the diatom response from the shallower Lake Kyasanduka is more complex (with groundwater likely playing a key role), and may be driven more by changes in silica and other nutrients, rather than by lake level. The sensitivity of these two Ugandan lakes to regional climate drivers breaks down in ca. AD 1800, when major changes in the ecosystems appear to be a response to increasing cultural impacts within the lake catchments, although both proxy records appear to respond to the drought recorded across East Africa in the mid-20th century. The data highlight the complexity of diatom community responses to external drivers (climate or cultural), even in neighbouring, shallow freshwater lakes. This research also illustrates the importance of, and the need to move towards, a multi-lake, multi-proxy landscape approach to understanding regional hydrological change which will allow for rigorous testing of climate reconstructions, climate forcing and ecosystem response models.

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“…A return to wetter conditions since the early 1800s is seen in Kyasanduka (1840 AD) and Nyamogusingiri (1860 AD) as well as across east Africa (Lamb et al, 2007;Bessems et al, 2008;Ryves et al, 2011), and it is likely that this wet period, given the possible errors in the various chronologies, is simultaneous. From the late 19th century, written records and observations can supplement palaeolimnological data (Endfield et al, 2009). There is documentary evidence of a dry period c. 1890s AD and also evidence of low lake levels in Lake Victoria (Nicholson, 1998).…”

Section: Coherence Between Records and Regional Comparisonmentioning

confidence: 99%

Expressions of climate perturbations in western Ugandan crater lake sediment records during the last 1000 yr

Mills¹,

Ryves²,

Anderson³

et al. 2013

Preprint

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Equatorial East Africa has a complex, regional patchwork of climate regimes, with multiple interacting drivers. Recent studies have focussed on large lakes and reveal signals that are smoothed in both space and time, and, whilst useful at a continental scale, are of less relevance when understanding short-term, abrupt or immediate impacts of climate and environmental changes. Smaller-scale studies have highlighted spatial complexity and regional heterogeneity of tropical palaeoenvironments in terms of responses to climatic forcing (e.g. the Little Ice Age [LIA]) and questions remain over the spatial extent and synchroneity of climatic changes seen in East African records.

Sediment cores from paired crater lakes in western Uganda were examined to assess ecosystem response to long-term climate and environmental change as well as testing responses to multiple drivers using redundancy analysis. These archives provide annual to sub-decadal records of environmental change. The records from the two lakes demonstrate an individualistic response to external (e.g. climatic) drivers, however, some of the broader patterns observed across East Africa suggest that the lakes are indeed sensitive to climatic perturbations such as a dry Mediaeval Climate Anomaly (MCA; 1000–1200 AD) and a relatively drier climate during the main phase of the LIA (1500–1800 AD); though lake levels in western Uganda do fluctuate. The relationship of Ugandan lakes to regional climate drivers breaks down c. 1800 AD, when major changes in the ecosystems appear to be a response to sediment and nutrient influxes as a result of increasing cultural impacts within the lake catchments.

The data highlight the complexity of individual lake response to climate forcing, indicating shifting drivers through time. This research also highlights the importance of using multi-lake studies within a landscape to allow for rigorous testing of climate reconstructions, forcing and ecosystem response

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‘The gloomy forebodings of this dread disease’, climate, famine and sleeping sickness in East Africa

Cited by 25 publications

References 66 publications

Climatology in support of climate risk management

Climatology in support of climate risk management

Expressions of climate perturbations in western Ugandan crater lake sediment records during the last 1000 years

Expressions of climate perturbations in western Ugandan crater lake sediment records during the last 1000 yr

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