Author(s)

Mamadou Diarrassouba¹, Adama Diawara^1,2, Assi Louis Martial Yapo^2,3*, Benjamin Komenan Kouassi^1,2, Fidèle Yoroba^1,2, Kouakou Kouadio^1,2, Dro Touré Tiemoko^2,4, Dianikoura Ibrahim Koné¹, Arona Diedhiou^5,6

¹Laboratory of Sciences Matter, Environment and Solar Energy (LASMES), University Félix Houphouët-Boigny, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.
²Geophysical Station of Lamto (GSL), N’douci, Côte d’Ivoire.
⁴Laboratory of Fundamental and Applied Physics, University Nangui Abrogoua, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.
⁵Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA), Institut des Géosciences de l’Environnement (IGE), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), Centre National de Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut National Polytechnique (INP), Grenoble, France.
⁶African Centre of Excellence on Climate Change, Biodiversity and Sustainable Agriculture (ACE-CCBAD)/University Felix Houphouët-Boigny (UFHB), Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.

This study assesses the projected changes in the climate zoning of C?te d’Ivoire using the hierarchical classification of principal components (HCPC) method applied to the daily precipitation data of an ensemble of 14 CORDEX-AFRICA simulations under RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 scenarios. The results indicate the existence of three climate zones in C?te d’Ivoire (the coastal, the centre and the north) over the historical period (1981-2005). Moreover, CORDEX simulations project an extension of the surface area of drier climatic zones while a reduction of wetter zones, associated with the appearance of an intermediate climate zone with surface area varying from 77,560 km² to 134,960 km² depending on the period and the scenario. These results highlight the potential impacts of climate change on the delimitation of the climate zones of C?te d’Ivoire under the greenhouse gas emission scenarios. Thus, there is a reduction in the surface areas suitable for the production of cash crops such as cocoa and coffee. This could hinder the country’s economy and development, mainly based on these cash crops.

Climate Projection, Climate Zone, Principal Component Analysis, Hierarchical Classification on Principal Components, CORDEX, Côte d’Ivoire

Diarrassouba, M. , Diawara, A. , Yapo, A. , Kouassi, B. , Yoroba, F. , Kouadio, K. , Tiemoko, D. , Koné, D. and Diedhiou, A. (2024) Projected Changes in the Climate Zoning of Côte d’Ivoire. Atmospheric and Climate Sciences, 14, 62-84. doi: 10.4236/acs.2024.141004.