Between 1979 and 2010, there has been a notable increase in temperature trends throughout the African continent. These temperature trends are measured with Microwave Sounding Units (MSU), Remote Sensing Systems (RSS) and the University of Alabama in Huntsville’s datasets. Africa is quite a unique continent as it straddles the equator, so the upper half of Africa is in the northern hemisphere, whilst the lower part of Africa is in the Southern Hemisphere. This has a direct effect on temperature and rainfall trends in Africa, this is apparent as the northern half of Africa is primarily arid, desert regions, whilst the southern part of Africa is made up of savannahs and rainforests. It is because of the vast differences in climate between the northern and southern parts of Africa, that I will be looking at climate and temperature variations in the northern, southern, eastern and western parts of Africa separately, to try and gain an understanding of the variations over the whole of Africa.
Firstly, I will look at the temperature trends within the southern hemisphere of Africa. The southern hemisphere of Africa receives more rainfall and, therefore, has far more vegetation and natural greenery.
Southern Africa’s normal temperatures show summer maximums and winter minimums, however, the rainfall here is unpredictable and erratic. Twenty-three climate stations were used to help make predictions about the variability of South African climate. At the end of the experiment, the mean seasonal temperatures were compared and it was recorded that temperature trends are not consistent throughout the year, with autumn displaying a maximum trend and spring displaying a minimum trend. It was also discovered that temperature trends, in general, se...
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Works Cited
• Kruger, A. C. and Shongwe, S. (2004), Temperature trends in South Africa: 1960–2003. International Journal of Climatology, 24: 1929–1945. doi: 10.1002/joc.1096
• Hasanean, H. M. and Basset, H. A. (2006), Variability of summer temperature over Egypt. International Journal of Climatology. 26: 1619–1634. doi: 10.1002/joc.1321
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• Gbobaniyi, E., Sarr, A., Sylla, M. B., Diallo, I., Lennard, C., Dosio, A., Dhiédiou, A., Kamga, A., Klutse, N. A. B., Hewitson, B., Nikulin, G. and Lamptey, B. (2013), Climatology, annual cycle and interannual variability of precipitation and temperature in CORDEX simulations over West Africa. International Journal of Climatology. doi: 10.1002/joc.3834
Glickman, Todd S. (ed.) (2000). Glossary of Meteorology (2nd ed.). American Meteorological Society. ISBN 978-1-878220-34-9.
Africa has a regular coastline characterized by few indentations. Because of the smooth coastline, natural harbors were non-existent. Today, however, there are important coastal cities, such as Lagos and Dakar. With the exception of the Mediterranean coast, most of the coastline is low-lying , generally narrow and rising sharply to high elevations. The African climate and topography varies greatly. Although temperatures are usually high, due to being so close to the equator, rainfall, soil quality and elevations are of various degrees. Because most of the African continent has not been covered by water for millions of years, soils have developed according to their weathering e...
Climate, weather, and meteorology are 3 words that seem to be the same but in reality differ significantly. Two of these concepts pertain to the atmosphere but differ in what time and place they are studied in, and the last one is studying these concepts.
Lackmann, Gary. Midlatitude Synoptic Meteorology: Dynamics, Analysis, and Forecasting. Boston, MA: American Meteorological Society, 2011. Print.
Much of Ethiopia is covered by highlands, plateaus and mountains and with this country’s climate is categorized as primarily H with some subcategories of B on the Köppen system (Attoh). The Western Highlands and Eastern Highlands that consume most of Ethiopia are dissected by the Eastern Rift Valley that slices through from the northeast to the southwest. The highlands here are classified as H climates which means that they experience temperate climates and dry winters. The highlands here can receive up to 80 inches of rainfall a year and average temperatures in the low 60s F (Brittanica.com). Attoh classifi...
Israel climate is Mediterranean. It has mild, moist rainy winters and hot, dry summers. “ Temperatures varies considerably with altitude, exposure to the sea, and predominant winds. January is normally the coldest month and August the warmest. In upland regions such as Jerusalem, January temperatures average 9 degrees Celsius (48 Degrees Fahrenheit) while August temperatures average 24 degrees Celsius (75 degrees Fahrenheit). In coastal plains, including Haifa and Tel Aviv – Yafo, January averages 12 degrees Celsius (54 degrees Fahrenheit) and August averages 25 degrees Celsius (77 degrees Fahrenheit). The highest and lowest elevations are subject to extremes: frost occurs a few days a year in mountainous inland regions, while summer temperatures can reach the upper 30 degrees Celsius (lower 100degree Fahrenheit) in the Jordan valley and in the southern desert regions. Israel subtropical (it borders the tropical zone) desert is hot and dry year round. The northern mountainous area has temperature variations with some freezing and even an occasional snow. Parts of the south may receive but one inch of rain annually; however, the coastal and the Upper Galilee regions receive from twenty-five to forty five inches of rain. Frequent summer droughts, especially in the southern desert region, make extensive irrigation a necessity. Heavy rains in these and other area can cause floods and erosion.”Enclopedia.com
Africa is the home to diverse ecosystems, from sandy deserts to lush beautiful rain forests. Africa is bounded by the Mediterranean Sea, the Red Sea, the Indian Ocean, and the Atlantic Ocean. It is divided in half almost equally by the Equator. Africa covers six percent of Earth’s total surface area and 20.4 percent of its total land area. Africa is the second-largest country and most definitely the most interesting (“Africa: Physical Geography”).
There is no longer any question that our world climate has changed (King, 2004). Over the last 100 years, "temperatures have risen by about 0.6 degrees Celsius and global sea level has risen by about 20cm" (K...
There needs to be more use of dating methods in South Africa as different dating methods need to be applied to different time periods. This is because if South Africa do not use these methods to aid in predictions of climatological change, South Africa may face a crisis in very near future if recent global climate change predictions prove to be correct, and South Africa will be unprepared, (Ian Foster, 2009). It is said that South African researchers have to rely on the comparison of global records to help them make patterns that are applicable about South Africa, but this is because of poor funding and lack of interest outside of South Africa to research palaeoenvironmental records, (Ramsay and Cooper, 2001).
Because the Earth is slowly warming up, heat waves, for example, have been occurring more frequently and for longer durations. According to the Climate Communications, “In 2010, 19 countries set new all-time record high temperatures, but not a single country set a new all-time record…” (Overview). Comparing this to Gore’s speech, eighteen countries have experienced all new highs in heat since the European heat wave in 2003. This increase in temperature is due to the shifting of the climates in specific regions as an after effect of global warming.
Global warming has been a major topic of environmental concern over the past several decades. The International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has recently predicted a 1 to 3.5 degree Celsius increase in average atmospheric temperature above 1990 levels by the year 2100. Although this temperature increase may seem small, even an increase or decrease of a few degrees in atmospheric temperature is capable of causing drastic alterations in the agricultural process, among many other everyday issues. Though many studies have been done on the probable effects of an increase in global mean temperature, much is still unknown or only guessed at, due to a general lack of deeper understanding of Earth?s very complex climate system. The effects of factors such as climate variability, water availability, and quality of adaptive response by farmers to the changing climate cannot be determined conclusively. This results in a rather wide range of variability in predictions of global warming effects on Earth?s various regions. Even specific temperature and precipitation changes cannot be determined, as they will most likely vary greatly from region to region.
The Sahara’s climate is very hot and dry. Although it is very hot during the day, it does become cold at night. On average, it only has 8 inches of rainfall per year. The Sahara's climate consists of b...
Since 1960s both minimum and maximum temperatures have exhibited a rising trend; with minimum increasing by a range of 0.7-2.0 degrees Celsius and maximum by 0.2-1.3 degree Celsius varying by region and season. Notable also is variability of rainfall patterns such as below normal rainfall in the long rains season and more during the short rainfall season, some regions have recorded more intense rainfall and downpours that have resulted to floods and infrastructural impairments. Extinction or near extinction of flora and fauna, changes in flowering and maturity patterns in crops are all attributable to climate change. These changes have had and are expected to have far reaching impacts on the economic sectors of the economy. Some of the expected sectoral impacts are discussed
Scientists, economists, and policy makers all agree the world is facing threat from climate warming. Climate warming is caused by excess greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide which are heat trapping gasses. Human use of fossil fuels is a significant source of these gasses. When we drive our cars, heat our homes with oil or natural gas, or use electricity from coal fired power plants, we contribute to global warming. Including any loss of trees or forests also contributes, considering trees convert carbon dioxide to oxygen. Global warming will have a worldwide effect but the problem is expected to be most severe in Africa, where the people are poor, temperatures are high, precipitation is low, technological change is slow, and where agriculture drives the economy. Climate changes in Africa will ultimately affect their habitats, native and non-native species, agriculture, weather, health, and energy use.
Although systems have been looked at, South Africa is particularly vulnerable to climate change because, amongst other things, a large proportion of the population live in abundance to poverty and have low resilience to extreme weather. With already a low and variable rainfall pattern, predictions testify that by 2050 areas will be experiencing extremely high temperatures in Spring, Summer and some parts of Autumn with Winter experiencing rapidly decreasing temperatures below -65 degrees Fahrenheit. It will also become drier and hotter affecting agricultural production and biodiversity distribution. Saving and conserving fresh water now will ensure that in times of drought and extreme weather, people will have other alternatives to turn to especially with the amount of rainfall to be expected in the adjoining future.