PREFACE takes on the challenge to redress this situation through the first comprehensive assessment of the Tropical Atlantic. Together European and African expertise will combine regional and global scale modelling capabilities, field experiments and observation systems to address the following: 1) To reduce uncertainties in our knowledge of the functioning of tropical Atlantic climate, particularly of climate-related ocean processes and dynamics, coupled ocean, atmosphere, and land interactions; and internal and externally forced climate variability; 2) To better understand the impact of model systematic error and its reduction on seasonal-to-decadal climate predictions and on climate change projections; 3) To improve the simulation and prediction of tropical Atlantic climate on seasonal, and longer time scales, and contribute to better quantification of climate change impacts in the region; 4) To improve understanding of the cumulative effects of the multiple stressors of climate variability, greenhouse gas induced climate change (including warming and deoxygenation), and fisheries on marine ecosystems, functional diversity, and ecosystem services (e.g., fisheries) in the tropical Atlantic; 5) To assess the socio-economic vulnerabilities and evaluate the resilience of the welfare of West African fishing communities to climate-driven ecosystem shifts and global markets.
