Building African Climate-Health Attribution Data, Digital Tools and Capacity
AFRIVERSE addresses the under-representation of Africa in climate-health impact attribution by strengthening the evidence, data, tools and research capability needed to understand how human-caused climate change affects health.
The project brings together climate scientists, health researchers, epidemiologists and data specialists to undertake climate-health impact attribution studies, build attribution-ready climate and health data, develop a climate attribution data platform and digital infrastructure, strengthen climate-health attribution expertise in Africa, and research how attribution evidence is communicated and used.
Existing climate-health impact attribution research covers relatively few health outcomes and has focused particularly on heat-related mortality. Africa is also significantly under-represented in this research. AFRIVERSE responds to constraints including limited research capability at the intersection of climate, health and attribution science and limited access to suitable digital climate and health data and analytical tools.
How much has human-caused climate change altered a particular health risk?
AFRIVERSE brings together four connected areas of work. Climate and weather affect human health through multiple pathways. Yet relatively few studies quantify how much human-caused climate change contributes to specific health outcomes. Existing climate-health impact attribution research remains concentrated on a relatively narrow range of outcomes, particularly heat-related mortality.
Africa is significantly under-represented in this research despite high exposure to climate-related risks. AFRIVERSE responds to several interconnected barriers identified by the project:
comparatively low levels of climate research funding;
limited research capability at the intersection of climate, health and attribution science; and
a need for accessible and suitable digital climate and health data and analytical tools.
AFRIVERSE addresses these gaps by generating new evidence while building the data resources, analytical tools, interdisciplinary teams and research capability needed for future work.
How AFRIVERSE is structured
AFRIVERSE brings together four connected areas of work.
Climate-health impact attribution case studies
Four interdisciplinary case study teams investigate whether human-caused climate change contributes to particular health outcomes and whether that contribution can be quantified.
Across the case studies, climate scientists, epidemiologists, health researchers and data specialists work together through problem definition, data preparation, analysis and interpretation.
Climate attribution data platform and digital infrastructure
AFRIVERSE develops attribution-ready climate and health data, quality-controlled climate data, and a digital platform for data access, analysis and visualisation.
The platform provides access to attribution climate data and associated metadata, alongside information on health datasets used in the project and their conditions for sharing and further use. It also supports code, analytical tools, computing resources and interactive visualisation.
The project also develops bias-corrected climate-model attribution data and evaluates climate-model simulations for their suitability for particular attribution questions and regions. The proposal identifies both ready-to-use climate-model attribution data and an interactive digital data platform as key AFRIVERSE outputs.
Communication, engagement and uptake
AFRIVERSE includes a dedicated research component that develops and tests approaches for communicating climate-health impact attribution to different audiences and examines how attribution findings are understood and used.
The communication research works alongside the case study teams and includes engagement with intended audiences to develop and test communication approaches, messages and products. The project also includes strategic engagement and outreach with policy and practice actors.
The project aims to increase uptake of climate-health attribution evidence among different audiences, including the general public, policy and decision makers, business and advocacy communities.
Climate-health attribution expertise and community of practice
AFRIVERSE strengthens research capability through interdisciplinary team science, technical support, shared learning and dedicated training.
The project aims to increase the number of scientists working on climate-health attribution in Africa by building capability and interest among researchers and establishing a wider community of practice.
A dedicated climate-health impacts attribution training school draws on the learning, data and analytical tools developed through AFRIVERSE and includes training in attribution science, climate data and analysis tools, practical attribution analysis and communication of findings.
Climate-health impact attribution case studies
AFRIVERSE brings together four interdisciplinary case study teams examining health outcomes that remain under-studied in climate-health impact attribution. The interdisciplinary teams are hosted by the African Synthesis Centre for Climate Change, Environment and Development (ASCEND).
Where AFRIVERSE is working
AFRIVERSE draws on health and climate data from multiple study locations, allowing the case study teams to investigate climate-health relationships across different populations and settings.
AFRIVERSE within the Wellcome Attriverse Programme
AFRIVERSE forms part of the Wellcome Attriverse Programme:
Developing Digital Solutions for Health Impact Attribution.
The wider programme supports projects developing datasets, platforms, methodologies, software and computational tools for health impact attribution. AFRIVERSE contributes an Africa-focused programme that combines climate-health impact attribution studies, attribution-ready data and digital infrastructure, research on communication and uptake, and the development of climate-health attribution expertise.
Additional Resources
For more information, download our flyer and short overview.
For more information on AFRIVERSE please contact our project manager, Dr Nadine Methner