NEW PAPER ALERT
Recent trends in the climate of Namaqualand, a megadiverse arid region of South Africa
The Plant Conservation Unit is pleased to announce the publication of an exciting new paper by Claire Davis, Timm Hoffman and Wesley Roberts in the Journal of Science. The article is entitled: Recent trends in the climate of Namaqualand, a megadiverse arid region of South Africa. A brief summary of the paper is provided but the full paper may be downloaded at: http://www.sajs.co.za/recent-
Namaqualand is particularly vulnerable to the future impact of climate change. The results of this paper show that temperatures and hot extremes have increased across this region; specifically, minimum temperatures by 1.4 °C and maximum temperatures by 1.1 °C over the last century. No clear evidence was found for a significant change in annual total rainfall or in the frequency or intensity of rainfall events. Overall, the results presented in this study provide evidence-based information for the management of climate change impacts as well as the development of appropriate adaptation responses at a local scale.