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Feb 2, 2021 · Studies have reported an upward trend in annual rainfall in the Sahel since the 1970s and 1980s, when the region experienced a profound drought with over a 30% decrease in rainfall. However, farmers have questioned whether this increase has improved vegetation and crop conditions.
The Sahel remains one of the poorest and least developed regions in the world. It’s also one of the most vulnerable to climate change and variability. One bright spot for the region is that since the mid-1980s, average rainfall has increased steadily [see this animation ].
- Decline and Rise
- Moisture Supply
- ‘favourable Condition’
- Uncertainties
The Sahel regionstretches from the Atlantic coast of Mauritania and Senegal through to Sudan, Eritrea and the Red Sea. It gets almost all of its rainfall in one wet season between June and September. The rain is delivered by the Intertropical Convergence Zone(ITCZ), a huge belt of low pressure that encircles the Earth near the equator. The ITCZ wan...
So, how does a warmer Costa del Sol trigger rainfall over several thousand kilometres away in Africa? A warmer Mediterranean means more moisture from the sea is evaporated into the air, the study says. This moisture is then carried over to the Sahel by summer windsthat blow south towards North Africa. Lead author Dr Jong-yeon Park, a researcher at ...
Having identified the likely cause of the Sahel recovery, the researchers turned to what might happen in future. Using a second model, they find the influence of the Mediterranean Sea is likely to become increasingly important for Sahel rainfall as the climate continues to warm. You can see this in the chart below, which shows the projected change ...
The new research comes to a different conclusion from a studypublished last year, which suggested the Sahel rainfall recovery was a result of the direct warming effect of rising CO2 levels. Because land heats up faster than water, the African continent has warmed more quickly than the surrounding ocean. This shifted the ITCZ northwards and brought ...
Jun 27, 2016 · The Sahel has suffered through severe droughts but recent years have seen increased rainfall. Now research suggests warming of the Mediterranean Sea surface may dictate future rainfall in the...
- Michela Biasutti
- biasutti@ldeo.columbia.edu
- 2016
Since the mid-1980s, average rainfall in the Sahel has partially recovered, possibly contributing in places to a ‘re-greening’ of vegetation so widespread that it can be observed from space. Recently, a paper published in Nature Climate Change argued that climate change from rising greenhouse-gas emissions can explain most of the increase.
New computer simulations show a significant future increase in seasonal rainfall in the Sahel under the current trend of global warming. A major increase in average rainfall might kick-in by 2040 already, which means that it is inevitable regardless of how future greenhouse gas emissions develop.
People also ask
Is the Sahel re-greening?
Why is the Sahel so important to Europe?
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Why is the Mediterranean a dominant player in Sahel rainfall variability?
Jul 5, 2017 · Climate change could turn one of Africa’s driest regions wet, according to a new study. Scientists have found evidence in computer simulations for a possible abrupt change in the Sahel, a region long characterized by aridity and political instability.
