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This paper addresses two fundamental questions on climate change and variability: to what extent has climate changed and/or varied over years in two districts of different agro-ecological regions or zones and how do any changes differ between the zones or districts? Given the rural-rural migration pattern observed between the districts, understanding climate change risk to rural livelihoods cannot be overemphasised. To assess change and variability, we utilise rainfall data-records over a 36-year period from 1980 to 2016. Results show that there are wide variations and differences within and between the districts. Evidence suggests a general reduction in both annual rainfall and wet days. There is also ground to suggest that the rainy season duration is becoming shorter, given that rainfall onset is increasingly starting late, while cessation is increasingly coming early. Dry spells frequency and duration trends within rainy season show an increase over the period examined. We conclude that local climate in both areas has changed over the period investigated. However, while Livingstone seems to have experienced more droughts and unreliable rainfall, Kabwe experienced a bigger change in both rainfall and rainy season duration. We further conclude that migrants into Kabwe and other inhabitants are not any safer from climate change risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drought is a dominant climatic feature in arid and semiarid regions. Climate change, temperature variability, and anthropogenic activities caused an increase in agricultural droughts in many regions. Investigation of drought dynamics is important for innovative planning and management of natural resources in drought-prone areas. Remote sensing indices and earth observational datasets were used in this study to investigate droughts in the Bikaner city of Rajasthan, India. Vegetation condition index (VCI), temperature condition index (TCI), and vegetation health index (VHI), estimated from multitemporal Landsat datasets, were used for monitoring the drought-prone areas. Land use land cover (LULC) map, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), and surface temperature were also calculated for monitoring the decadal changes in surface features. The results showed that barren lands decreased from around 162.75 to 79.59 km2. The annual average temperature increased by 0.72 °C, while agricultural land increased by 33.83 km2 during 1990‒2020. There was a gradual increase in droughts, but the increase was more in recent years than in the early period. The climatic condition revealed from VCI, TCI, and NDVI maps indicated most of the Bikaner city is prone to moderate and extreme droughts. The study indicates the need for VCI-based real-time drought monitoring for drought management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]