Africas Climates

I speak of Desert without repose

Carved by relentless winds
Torn up from its bowels
Blinded by sands
Unsheltered solitary
Yellow as death
Wrinkled like parchment
Face turned to the sun. (Chedid 1995)

Riddle
I am a huge landmass whose inhabitants are
diverse. I contain the worlds longest river; in its
waters you can immerse. The worlds largest hot
desert spans the northern part of me, and a
portion of my border is the Mediterranean Sea.
The equator dissects me, but nearby many
people seek to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro, my highest
mountain peak.
Who am I?

If the equator is so hot, why arent

deserts located on the equator?

Answer
There are rain bearing winds at the
equator. Warm and moist air at the
equator flows toward the poles but by
the time it reaches 30* north or south of
the equator, they dry out and sink then
flow back toward the equator. This
creates a desert or arid land around the
Tropic of Capricorn and Cancer.

Facts about Africas Climate

1. General Information
Some parts get too much rain, others receive
too little.
Major factors that affect climate in Africa
include: distance from the equator, elevation
and amount of rainfall
The amount of rainfall can vary greatly from
year to year and season to season
As one goes south or north from the equator it
gets drier and there is a longer dry season

2. Warm or Hot Climate

Most of Africa has a warm or hot climate.
Why?
Why is the nighttime in Africa called the
Winter of the tropics?

Answers
1. Africa is 90% in the tropics; the equator,
Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn run
through Africa
2. Temperatures are high year round and
they vary little between summer and winter.
There is a larger difference between daytime
and nighttime temperatures in most parts of
Africa than there is between the coldest and
warmest months.

3. Rainfall
Distributed unevenly; most areas receive either too
little or too much rainit is Not reliable
Example:
West Coast & Central Africa: over 100 inches
Over half of Africa receives less than 20 inches of rain
yearly and has one or two rainy seasons.
Sahara & Namib Desert receive less than 10 inches a
year.
Congo Basin and Coastal regions of West Africa:
Rain falls year around
Ethiopia and the Sahel Region: Experience Droughts

4. General Rainfall Patterns

East Africa has endured several
droughts
The closer a nation is to the equator, the
longer the rainy season; the closer an
area is to a desert, the longer the dry
season

5. Seasons
There are alternating patterns of wet and
dry seasons. When rain falls south of the
equator, the north has a dry season then
the pattern is reversed.

6. Define

Tropic
Leaching
Drought
Desertification

Main Types of Climates in Africa

Tropical Wet or Rain Forest

Tropical Wet and Dry
Semi Arid or Sahel
Desert
Mediterranean
Highland

Types of Climate Found in Africa

7. Tropical Wet or Rain Forest

A narrow belt from the west coast to the
Great Rift Valley in the east
Hot and humid
The average temperature is 80*F
Rain is 60 120 inches
Dense plant and animal life
Leaching, disease, insects, mildew

Tropical Wet

8.Tropical Wet and Dry

Largest climate zone, cover 40%

Most people live here
Warm all year..it has a
Summer rainy season (hot & wet)
Winter dry season (warm little rain)
20 80 inches a year but UNPREDICTABLE
Sometimes desertification occurs

SavannaTropical Wet and Dry

9. Semi Arid or Sahel

A region that extends from Senegal and
Mauritania to Sudan in Africa
10 20 inches of rain
Separates the Savanna from Sahara
Desert
Top soil is destroyed by climate change
and human activity

Sahel

Riddle
I am arid and dry, in kind.
In my landscape, an oasis is hard to find.
I am crossed by the Tropic of Cancer and get
little rain.
My vastness and heat can inflict immense pain
I am the largest hot one in the Eastern
Hemisphere.
The Mediterranean Sea is fairly near to me here

What am I?

10. Desert
Covers 40% of Africa
Includes rock, gravel & shifting sand
dunes
Less than 10 inches of rain per year
Oasis
How would it feel to be in the desert?
What would you see? Which desert in
Africa is the driest?

Namib Desert

Desert

11. Mediterranean
Found on the Southern tip and on the
Northwest tip of Africa
Mild climate, similar to Los Angeles,
California
Summers are hot and dry
Winters are cooler and moist

Mediterranean

12. Marine West Coast

Central Southern South Africa
Cloudy mild summers and cool rainy
winters
A strong ocean influence
20 98 inches of rainfall
Temperatures range from 70*F to 32*F

Marine West Coast

13. Highland
The higher one goes in altitude, the
cooler it gets.
Temperatures and precipitation amounts
vary as elevation changes

Highland Climates

Desertification

14. Desertification
An expansion of dry conditions into
moist areas that are next to deserts.
It is increased by human activity:
overgrazing of vegetation, animals
trampling soil, farming, drilling and
irrigation.
The changing of semi desert land into
desert..

How Can It Be Stopped?

The Sahara Desert is slowly extending
its reach across northern Africa. To
counter increasing desertification, a
group of African nations wants to plant
a continuous line of trees across the
continent.

15. The Great Green Wall

It involves making a tree belt 9 miles
wide and 4,831 miles long across the
southern edge of the Sahara, from
Senegal in the west to Djibouti,
Ethiopia and the Indian Ocean in the
east.

Do you think it can be doneand

maintained?

The Great Green Wall

Impact of The Great Green Wall

Scientists hope the tree belt will stop
soil erosion, slow wind speeds, and
stop the encroaching desert that leads
to crop failure and the migration of
village people to cities.

Desertification vulnerability of
Africa

Lake Chad in a 2001 satellite image, with

the actual lake in blue. The lake has shrunk
by 95% since the 1960s

16. Leaching
The downward movement of humus in the
soil; constant water that filters and
dissolves nutrients out of the soil. Its the
Washing away of nutrients in the soil.

17. Drought
Long periods of dry weather or
continued lack of rain

Droughts are linked to Hunger

Droughts lead to hunger

18. Impact of Climate

It is hard to improve agriculture in areas
of limited and unpredictable rainfall
Drought resistant crops must be planted
Hot humid climate areas deal with insects
that destroy crops and cause diseases