What is the climate of the Sahara Desert?
The Sahara exhibits great climatic variability within its borders, with two major climatic regimes differentiating along a north-south axis: the de...
How did the Sahara get its name?
In Arabic the Sahara is called Al-Ṣaḥrāʾ al-Kubrā, or “the Great Desert.” The Arabic word ṣaḥrāʾ simply means “desert,” and its plural form, ṣaḥārā...
Can plants and animals survive in the Sahara Desert?
Though boasting an extremely low primary productivity, the Sahara does manage to support some life. Many of the organisms that can survive have bee...
Do people live in the Sahara Desert?
People have lived in the Sahara long before recorded history, at certain times in regions that are now too arid for human inhabitance. Archaeologic...
What is the modern economy of the Saharan Desert like?
After World War II, prospecting revealed that the Sahara was laden with oil and mineral resources, which have served as a major attractor of intern...
Why was the Sahara desert so dry?
By 3400 BCE, the Sahara was as dry as it is today, due to reduced precipitation and higher temperatures resulting from a shift in Earth's orbit. As a result of this aridification, it became a largely impenetrable barrier to humans, with the remaining settlements mainly being concentrated around the numerous oases that dot the landscape. Little trade or commerce is known to have passed through the interior in subsequent periods, the only major exception being the Nile Valley. The Nile, however, was impassable at several cataracts, making trade and contact by boat difficult.
Why did the Sahara form?
One theory for the formation of the Sahara is that the monsoon in Northern Africa was weakened because of glaciation during the Quaternary period, starting two or three million years ago. Another theory is that the monsoon was weakened when the ancient Tethys Sea dried up during the Tortonian period around 7 million years.
How did the Sahara change?
The climate of the Sahara has undergone enormous variations between wet and dry over the last few hundred thousand years, believed to be caused by long-term changes in the North African climate cycle that alters the path of the North African Monsoon – usually southward. The cycle is caused by a 41000-year cycle in which the tilt of the earth changes between 22° and 24.5°. At present (2000 ACE), we are in a dry period, but it is expected that the Sahara will become green again in 15000 years (17000 ACE). When the North African monsoon is at its strongest annual precipitation and subsequent vegetation in the Sahara region increase, resulting in conditions commonly referred to as the " green Sahara ". For a relatively weak North African monsoon, the opposite is true, with decreased annual precipitation and less vegetation resulting in a phase of the Sahara climate cycle known as the "desert Sahara".
Why did the Sahara get more rain?
The end of the glacial period brought more rain to the Sahara, from about 8000 BCE to 6000 BCE, perhaps because of low pressure areas over the collapsing ice sheets to the north. Once the ice sheets were gone, the northern Sahara dried out.
What are the mountains in the desert?
Several deeply dissected mountains, many volcanic, rise from the desert, including the Aïr Mountains, Ahaggar Mountains, Saharan Atlas, Tibesti Mountains, Adrar des Iforas, and the Red Sea Hills. The highest peak in the Sahara is Emi Koussi, a shield volcano in the Tibesti range of northern Chad.
What is the southern limit of the Sahara?
The southern limit of the Sahara is indicated botanically by the southern limit of Cornulaca monacantha (a drought-tolerant member of the Chenopodiaceae ), or northern limit of Cenchrus biflorus, a grass typical of the Sahel.
How big is the Sahara?
It covers 9 million square kilometres (3,500,000 sq mi), amounting to 31% of Africa. If all areas with a mean annual precipitation of less than 250 mm were included, the Sahara would be 11 million square kilometres ...
How does the Sahara Desert affect hurricanes?
The role the Sahara Desert plays in hurricane development is related to the easterly winds (com ing from the east) generated from the differences between the hot, dry desert in north Africa and the cooler, wetter, and forested coastal environment directly south and surrounding the Gulf of Guinea in west Africa.
When was the Sahara Desert photographed?
Sahara Desert dunes photographed from the International Space Station on July 7, 2007. This large desert has a surprising degree of influence on the frequency of hurricanes we see in the United States. (NASA) Last updated Wednesday, February 27, 2019 9:29am PST. You are here.
Which continent is the largest desert in the world?
The Sahara Desert is massive, covering 10 percent of the continent of Africa. It would be the largest desert on Earth, but based strictly on rainfall amounts, the continent of Antarctica qualifies as a desert and is even larger.
Where do tropical cyclones originate?
Many of the Eastern Pacific tropical cyclones originate, at least in part, from tropical waves coming off Cape Verde in Africa. Many of these waves traverse the entire Atlantic Ocean without generating storm development until after crossing Central America and entering the warm Eastern Pacific waters.
Why is the Sahara desert devoid of life?
One of the main reasons for that is the precession of the Earth’s axis, which changes the location of the North African monsoon.
How does the Sahara affect life?
Like any desert, the Sahara has a significant influence on life within its borders. But because of its size, the desert’s reach extends far beyond. And some of these effects are even visible from space. The atlas mountains and the mediterranean sea in the north.
What is the highest point in the Sahara?
Sahara’s highest point, mount Koussi in Chad, is a dormant volcano. It stands at 3450 meters and, despite its altitude, receives little to no precipitation. Sahara’s slowest point, on the other hand, Egypt’s Qattara depression, has somewhat of a more exciting story.
How many degrees did the Sahara get in the past 8000 years?
It’s from about 20 to 25 degrees every 40,000 years or so. About 8000 years ago, it changed from approximately 24.1 degrees to 23.4 degrees. So the Sahara region did not receive as much light anymore. Middle of the summer in this particular region received quite a lot of light.
What ocean is the Sahara surrounded by?
The Sahara is surrounded on the west by the Atlantic ocean. An arid, desolate, and primarily lifeless area spans from the Red Sea in the east to the Atlantic Ocean in the west. It is from the Mediterranean Sea in the north to the Sahel in the south. It covers more than 9 million square kilometres or 31% of the continent of Africa.
How long can camels live in the desert?
Due to their soft feet, camels move quickly through the sand and can last up to 17 days without food or water. For some animals such as snakes, scorpions, and rodents, the desert climate even suits them. The Sahara is a suitable habitat for very poisonous scorpions and snakes and is home to over 40 species of rodents.
What is the climate of North Africa?
These so-called winds that blow up to a hundred kilometers per hour are responsible for North Africa’s dry and warm climate . The Sahara is mostly an arid area, and almost half of the Sahara has rainfall of two centimeters per square mile.
What is the Sahara?
North of the Sahara is the Mediterranean Sea. South is the Sahel region that sits between the desert and the African Savanna. The Sahara covers large sections of eleven different countries including Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Western Sahara, Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Chad, and Sudan.
What are the landforms of the Sahara Desert?
Landforms of the Sahara Desert 1 Dunes - Dunes are hills made of sand. Some dunes in the Sahara can reach over 500 feet tall. 2 Ergs - Ergs are large areas of sand. They are sometimes called sand seas. 3 Regs - regs are flat plains that are covered with sand and hard gravel. 4 Hamadas - Hamadas are hard and barren rocky plateaus. 5 Salt Flats - A flat area of land covered with sand, gravel, and salt.
How tall are the dunes in the Sahara Desert?
The Sahara Desert is made up of several different types of landforms including: Dunes - Dunes are hills made of sand. Some dunes in the Sahara can reach over 500 feet tall. Ergs - Ergs are large areas of sand.
What is the highest point in the Sahara Desert?
The highest point in the Sahara Desert is the volcano Emi Koussi in Chad. Its peak is 11,302 feet above sea level. Despite its large size, only around 2.5 million people live in the Sahara Desert. The most common language spoken in the Sahara is Arabic.
How big is the Sahara Desert?
The Sahara Desert is huge. It covers an area of 3,629,360 square miles and is still growing. From east to west it is 4,800 miles long and from north to south it is 1,118 miles wide. If the Sahara were a country it would be the fifth largest country in the world. Larger than Brazil and only slightly smaller than the United States.
How did the Berbers survive?
Some peoples, like the Berbers, survive by being nomads. They constantly move around to find new areas to graze their livestock and hunt for food. Desert Caravans. Trade routes across the Sahara Desert were an important part of the economies of Ancient Africa.
Is it hard to survive in the desert?
Source: Wikimedia Commons. Living in the Desert. Even though it is difficult to survive in the desert, some powerful civilizations have formed in the Sahara. Larger cities and farming villages tend to form along rivers and oases.
Answer
The Sahara desert is important for a multiple of reasons. One is that although it is a desert, there are many fertile areas of land making it great for farming and supporting life. It also acts as a natural barrier in between north and south Africa, which was able to impact trade with the South, slowing down innovation on both sides.
Answer
The huge widespread span and a few other unique qualities of the Sahara desert make it an important feature of the geography of northern Africa.
New questions in Geography
In which phase of the model will an observer on Earth see a waxing crescent? A. Phase C B. Phase A C. Phase D D. Phase B
Overview
Climate
The Sahara is the world's largest hot desert. It is located in the horse latitudes under the subtropical ridge, a significant belt of semi-permanent subtropical warm-core high pressure where the air from the upper troposphere usually descends, warming and drying the lower troposphere and preventing cloud formation.
Geography
The Sahara covers large parts of Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Western Sahara, Sudan and Tunisia. It covers 9 million square kilometres (3,500,000 sq mi), amounting to 31% of Africa. If all areas with a mean annual precipitation of less than 250 mm were included, the Sahara would be 11 million square kilometres (4,200,000 sq mi). It is one of three distinct phy…
Ecoregions
The Sahara comprises several distinct ecoregions. With their variations in temperature, rainfall, elevation, and soil, these regions harbor distinct communities of plants and animals.
• The Atlantic coastal desert is a narrow strip along the Atlantic coast where fog generated offshore by the cool Canary Current provides sufficient moisture to s…
Flora and fauna
The flora of the Sahara is highly diversified based on the bio-geographical characteristics of this vast desert. Floristically, the Sahara has three zones based on the amount of rainfall received – the Northern (Mediterranean), Central and Southern Zones. There are two transitional zones – the Mediterranean-Sahara transition and the Sahel transition zone.
History
People lived on the edge of the desert thousands of years ago, since the end of the last glacial period. In the Central Sahara, engraved and painted rock art were created perhaps as early as 10,000 years ago, spanning the Bubaline Period, Kel Essuf Period, Round Head Period, Pastoral Period, Caballine Period, and Cameline Period. The Sahara was then a much wetter place than it is today. O…
People, culture, and languages
The people of the Sahara are of various origins. Among them the Amazigh including the Tuareg, various Arabized Amaziɣ groups such as the Hassaniya-speaking Sahrawis, whose populations include the Znaga, a tribe whose name is a remnant of the pre-historic Zenaga language. Other major groups of people include the: Toubou, Nubians, Zaghawa, Kanuri, Hausa, Songhai, Beja, and Fula/Fu…
See also
• African humid period – Holocene climate period during which northern Africa was wetter than today
• Arid Lands Information Network
• List of deserts – List of deserts by continent
• List of deserts by area – List of the largest deserts in the world by area