Janice R. Andrews
In an amazing change of events, the Sahara Desert, which is normally one of the driest places on Earth, is becoming green in a way that has never happened before because it has been raining so much. Images from space show that the desert is changing, with plants growing in places that are usually empty. This green may look like a sign of life returning, but it also means terrible floods and a look at how climate change is affecting the world.
A Very Rare Weather Event
In the Sahara, especially in the southern parts, it doesn’t rain very often. But since the middle of July, rains have hit parts of Niger, Chad, Sudan, and even Libya in the north. The weather is changing in a strange way because the West African Monsoon usually brings rain from July to September. Wet air from the tropics meets dry, hot air from northern Africa, and the monsoon starts. The Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) is where most of the stormy weather is. This is a belt of strong storms that moves with the seasons.
The ITCZ has moved farther north than usual this year, which has pushed storm systems all the way into the Sahara. The Climate Prediction Centre at NOAA says that some parts of the desert have had two to six times more rain than usual. Some places in northern Chad that get less than an inch of rain a year have gotten as much as eight inches.
Weather Change and El Niño’s Part
Scientists say that this strange weather is caused by two main things: El Niño, which is a natural pattern of the climate, and the effects of global warming. El Niño causes the oceans in the Pacific to get warmer, which can change weather trends all over the world. La Niña, its opposite, makes it rain more often in West and Central Africa. A climate researcher at Leipzig University named Karsten Haustein says that the change from El Niño to La Niña has pushed the ITCZ farther north, which has helped cause the heavy rain in the Sahara.
The changing environment, on the other hand, is a bigger and more worrying problem. Haustein said, “As the world warms up, the Intertropical Convergence Zone moves farther north.” Studies have found that this change is being caused by rising carbon dioxide levels from burning fossil fuels. A new study in Nature says that these changes in the weather trends could happen more often as temperatures continue to rise around the world.
The Green Sahara: A Sign of Things to Come
A greener Sahara might look like a miracle, but things aren’t really that great. The rains that bring plants to the desert are also causing damage in other places. Nigeria and Cameroon, two African countries that usually get their water from the rainy season, have seen a lot less rain. Some places have only gotten about half of their normal amount of rain, which is bad for farming and water sources.
The other side is that places that are normally dry have been flooded with rain. It has rained up to 400% more than usual in parts of Sudan, Libya, northern Chad, and southern Egypt. This heavy rain has caused floods across a large area, which has been very bad.
Terrible Flooding in Africa
Heavy, out-of-season rains have caused serious floods in a number of African countries. More than 1.5 million people in Chad have been hit by the flooding, and at least 340 have died. In Nigeria, too, the flooding has been very bad, especially in the normally dry northern parts of the country. The storms have killed more than 220 people and forced hundreds of thousands to leave their homes.
Sudan has also had floods that killed at least 132 people and ruined more than 12,000 homes in late August. Whole towns are still struggling to get back on their feet after losing loved ones, homes, and ways to make a living.
The Signs of Climate Change
These very bad weather events might have something to do with climate change. Haustein says that warmer world temperatures make it easier for the atmosphere to hold water, which makes storms bring more rain. As the world keeps getting warmer, wet seasons like this one could become the rule, with floods happening more often and with more force.
More study is needed to figure out how much climate change is to blame for these floods, but it is clear that these kinds of events are getting worse as the Earth warms. Haustein said, “Everything is changed by climate change.” Even though global warming hasn’t caused a single flood, the factors that make them more possible are happening more often.
A Dire Warning About What Will Happen
Not only is the Sahara turning green for no clear reason, but it is also a stark warning of the changes our world is going through because of people. The weather is changing in dangerous and random ways as carbon dioxide levels rise and the Earth warms. The floods in Chad, Nigeria, and Sudan is just one example of how it can affect a lot of people.
If world temperatures keep going up without being stopped, this greening of the Sahara could be a sign of things to come. Plants might grow in places you wouldn’t expect them to, but people will suffer, people will die, and the world will be messed up in huge ways.
Finally, the Sahara’s change from a dry desert to a green oasis because of an unusually large amount of rain is a strong sign of the climate disaster. The terrible floods that has come with this change is a stark warning of how important it is for the whole world to act right away to stop the causes of climate change before more extreme and deadly weather events become the norm.
