El Niño describes 'the warm phase of a naturally occurring sea surface temperature oscillation in the tropical Pacific Ocean', and southern oscillation refers to 'a seesaw shift in surface air pressure at Darwin, Australia and the South Pacific Island of Tahiti'. This graphic explains the El Niño-Southern Oscillation Phenomenon, showing the differences between a normal year and an El Niño year.

El Niño describes 'the warm phase of a naturally occurring sea surface temperature oscillation in the tropical Pacific Ocean', southern oscillation refers to 'a seesaw shift in surface air pressure at Darwin, Australia and the South Pacific Island of Tahiti' amd La Nina refers to the cooling phase of the same temperature oscillation that causes El Nino. This graphic shows how the El Nino phenomenon changed weather conditions in southern Africa in...

Developing countries, whose economies often rely heavily on one or two agricultural products, are especially vulnerable to climate change. This graphic shows that with an increase of only 2 degrees Celsius, there would be a dramatic decrease in the amount of land suitable for growing Robusta coffee in Uganda.

Climate change poses a threat to wildlife because as climatic conditions change, many species may be unable to tolerate the changes. This graphic shows the numbers of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish species that are critically endangered, endangered and vulnerable in various regions of Africa and in Africa as a whole, as of 1998.

Natural forcing (solar variation and volcanic activity) alone cannot explain the recent global temperature increase. This graphic shows the temperature anomalies (in degrees Celsius) that were expected to occur due to natural forcing only, from the year 1850 to the year 2000, according to climate models, and the actual anomalies that have occurred. The graphic also shows the expected and actual anomalies due to anthropogenic (human-caused) factor...

Africa is following the global trend of recent increases in temperatures. This resource includes three graphics. The first shows the main temperature anomaly in degrees Celsius in Africa from 1900 to 2000. The second shows departures from the 1961 to 1990 average temperatures, in degrees Celsius, on a global scale for the time period 1860 to 2000. The final graphic shows departures from the 1961 to 1990 temperatures, in degrees Celsius, for the N...

The potential impacts of sea level rise on the Nile Delta are expected to include a decline in water quality that would affect freshwater fish, the flooding of agricultural land and damage to infrastructure. This graphic shows the Nile Delta region as it is today (2002), the area as it would appear with a 0.5 m sea level rise, and the area as it would appear with a 1.0 m sea level rise.

Straddling the borders of Nigeria, Chad, Niger and Cameroon in West Africa, Lake Chad has been a source of freshwater for irrigation projects in all these countries. This graphic traces the shrinkage of Lake Chad and changes in vegetation from 1963 to 2001. It includes maps of the lake from 1963, 1973, 1987, 1997 and 2001. Climatic changes and high demands for agricultural water are responsible for the lake's shrinkage.