Review of the biophysical impacts of climate change in three hotspot regions in Africa and Asia

This systematic review identifies the nature and extent of biophysical impacts from climate change in three hotspot regions, examining their relative significance, and identifying key knowledge and information gaps to guide future research needs and support adaptation planning. Information gaps common to all regions include a lack of observation data and poor hydro-meteorological monitoring networks. Shared knowledge gaps include climate impacts to groundwater and uncertainty in climate projections, especially for precipitation. Systematic reviews, long employed in the medical sciences, are increasingly being used to address global environmental change-related research questions. In total 139 peer-reviewed articles are reviewed and discussed