Drought Spatiotemporal Evaluation in the Caribbean and African Regions: Identifying Anthropogenic and Natural Activities as Contributing Factors

To monitor climate-related events such as drought scenario successfully in the Caribbean African regions, innovative technology such as satellite information is required. Studies have shown that temperatures and seasonal rainfall patterns in the Caribbean are changing, and conditions are projected to become more variable in the future. Africa including the regions considered in this study are experiencing the longest and most severe drought on record, threatening millions of people with starvation. Relentless drought and high food prices have undercut many people's ability to grow crops, livestock, and food shortage. The study used remotely sensed data to assess drought episode over Trinidad and Tobago, South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria. The study revealed that different years were affected in the selected regions for this study between 2001 and 2022. Finding from this study revealed that with the combined effect of human and natural activities, such as increased in population, land use change, urbanisation, higher temperatures, associated increase in evaporation, and less rainfall means that the Caribbean and Africa continents are likely to experience more intense and frequent droughts. This study emphasizes the strong spatio-environmental impacts within the Caribbean and African settings and highlights the associated factors that characterise high drought stress risk, especially on the natural environment and ecosystems. This study contributes to a disaster risk framework to identify areas for specific research and adaptation activities on drought disaster risk and for environmental planning in the study areas, which are characterised by natural ecosystems, to address climate change-related drought impacts.