Oceanic forcing and coastal exposure during the 2023-2024 El Niño across Africa (IMAGE)

University of Cape Town - Faculty of Science

Oceanic forcing and coastal exposure during the 2023-2024 El Niño across Africa

Caption

Synthesis of oceanic forcing and coastal exposure during the 2023-2024 El Niño across Africa. Panel (a) shows sea surface temperature anomalies revealing widespread marine heatwaves and suppressed upwelling that amplified sea levels across African waters. Panel (b) shows sea level rise trends from 1993 to 2024 combined with land subsidence data, highlighting hotspots in Small Island Developing States, the Gulf of Guinea, Senegal, Mauritania, and the Somali coast where relative sea level rise exceeds the global average. Population density is overlaid on land, and major upwelling systems are outlined in red. Together, the panels illustrate how sudden climate extremes intersect with long-term geophysical pressures to compound flood and erosion risks for millions of vulnerable coastal residents. This figure accompanies a study published in Communications Earth & Environment showing that the 2023-2024 El Niño triggered the largest sea level surge ever recorded across Africa's marine domains.

Credit

Ghomsi et al., Communications Earth & Environment (2026). Licensed under CC BY 4.0.

Usage Restrictions

Credit must be given to the creator.

License

CC BY

Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.