Project description
Forecasting and mitigating the impact of humid heatwaves across Africa
Heatwaves are becoming more frequent, intense and prolonged in many parts of the world. With the support of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the AFRIHEAT project aims to shed light on the impact of heatwaves in Africa, a region where little research has been conducted despite its vulnerability to extreme weather conditions. Heatwaves have been found to have severe consequences, including reduced crop yield, productivity, and educational performance, as well as an increased risk of wildfire and mortality. The project will focus on studying humid heatwaves, which are particularly dangerous, and aims to develop an early warning system. Research outcomes will contribute to forecasting and mitigating the impact of humid heatwaves across Africa.
Objective
Heatwaves, the occurrence of extremely high temperature over a prolonged period, have been identified to cause death, reduce educational performance, weaken worker productivity, increase the risk of wildfire, and affect crop productivity. The occurrence of heatwaves has been increasing both in frequency, intensity and duration in the recent past climate and a robust increase in heatwave frequency, intensity and duration is projected in future climate scenarios. When accompanied by moist air, heatwaves can be even more lethal. During such humid heatwave (HHW) events, the physiological mechanism that allows the human body to cool down through transpiration is impaired. Previous regional research on heat stress focused mainly on Europe, South Asia, and the Persian Gulf, even though global studies also identify sub-Saharan Africa as a hotspot for heatwave extremes. Consequently, very little is known about humid heatwave occurrence and impacts in Africa due to the lack of dense meteorological networks and a consistent reporting framework. This project aims to uncover the structure, dynamics and impacts of HHW across Africa under present and future climate, and to translate this knowledge into actionable information for disaster management agencies. To achieve this objective, I will join the BCLIMATE research group under the Department of Hydrology and Hydraulic Engineering at the VUB. The host supervisor and the BCLIMATE research team have a world-leading reputation in climate extremes. Building on the tools of European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service, the research outcomes will contribute to the forecasting of deadly heat stress across Africa and develop an early warning system to reduce HHW vulnerability. During my secondment at the UN office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) in Brussels, I will develop an Early Warning System (EWS) to reduce on-the-ground HHW vulnerability.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences earth and related environmental sciences hydrology
- social sciences economics and business economics production economics productivity
- agricultural sciences agriculture, forestry, and fisheries agriculture
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2022-PF-01
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
1050 BRUSSEL
Belgium
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.