High-Resolution Paleoclimatic Records from Tree Rings in the Soudan Sahel of West Africa

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This awards helps fund the development of a 200-year tree-ring chronology for the Sudan Sahel of West Africa as a means to reconstruct rainfall variability over the time period. This research will help produce a record of historical drought from the Sahel since 1800 AD. The premise of the research is that the change from wet conditions in the 1950's and 1960's to drier conditions in the three decades following over the West African Sahel represents a strong inter-decadal signal. It is unclear, however, whether persistent multi-decadal climatic variability is a recurring feature or if drought represents a new phenomenon in the climate dynamics of the region. This research will, by reconstructing one aspect of West African recent climate history, provide a longer perspective about contemporary and historical climatic patterns and processes from a region in which climate and society interact with deadly results.