Climate Change in Kenya : a review of literature and evaluation of temperature and precipitation data

Sammanfattning: The world is facing serious and complex impacts with regard to climate change. Natural and human settlements on all continents are affected, and the African continent is considered as one of the most vulnerable areas due to rapid urbanization growth and high dependency on rain-fed agriculture, amongst others. This thesis focuses on climate change in Kenya. The first aim is to compare trends of climate change in East Africa and Kenya by using a literature review and analyzing temperature and precipitation data. The second aim is to investigate regional differences in Kenya by using regional temperature data. Literature about climate change in East Africa and Kenya was collected and gathered in a literature review. Climate data was analyzed on national and regional level. Main findings were that there is a general agreement about increasing temperature trends in Kenya, in literature and in the data analysis. Findings of precipitation in literature and data analysis indicate that eastern Africa and Kenya are characterized by high variability in rainfall. Literature report about drying trends of precipitation however the link to human induced climate change needs to be further investigated. Analyses of regional datasets indicate regional differences in the magnitude of increase in mean, maximum and minimum temperatures. Key words: climate change, Kenya, East Africa, temperature trends, precipitation patterns, extreme weather