Strong heatwaves with widespread urban-related hotspots over Africa in 2019

2019 was one of the hottest years in recent decades, with widespread heatwaves over many parts of the world, including Africa. However, as a developing and vulnerable region, the understanding of recent heatwave events in Africa is limited. Here, the authors incorporated different climate datasets, satellite observations, and population estimates to investigate patterns and hotspots of major heatwave events over Africa in 2019. Overall, 2019 was one of the years that experienced the strongest heatwaves in terms of intensity and duration since 1981 in Africa. Heatwave hotspots were clearly identified across western-coastal, northeastern, southern, and equatorial Africa, where major cities and human populations are located. The proportion of urban agglomerations (population) exposed to extreme (99th percentile) heatwaves in the Northern Hemisphere and Southern Hemisphere rose from 4% (5 million people) and 15% (17 million people), respectively, in the baseline period of 1981-2010 to 36% (43 million people) and 57% (53 million people), respectively, in 2019. Heatwave patterns and hotspots in 2019 were related to anomalous seasonal change in atmospheric circulation and above-normal sea surface temperature. Without adaptation to minimize susceptibility to the effects of heatwave events, the risks they pose in populated areas may increase rapidly in Africa.

Automated summary

2019 was one of the hottest years in recent decades, particularly for Africa. Heatwaves were widespread across the continent, with hotspots identified in western-coastal, northeastern, southern, and equatorial Africa where major cities and human populations are located. The proportion of urban populations exposed to extreme heatwaves increased significantly compared to previous years, indicating a higher risk for populated areas in Africa.