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

A systematic literature review was conducted regarding biological and physical climate change impacts in three hotspot regions in Africa and Asia. The article focuses on this review, identifying the nature and extent of biophysical impacts in semi-arid zones, mega-deltas and glacial-fed river basins. It forms part of the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) special issue, identifying and characterising the state of knowledge of biophysical impacts from climate change in these hotspot areas. Reported data or knowledge gaps in publications were extracted to guide exploration of future research needs in hotspots