This article is available also in spanish here

What causes the drought cycles in Africa?

My list

Author | M. Martínez Euklidiadas

Drought cycles have been battering the African continent for thousands of years, however, the consequences for different communities are being compounded by global warming as a result of climate change. What causes the drought cycles? Why does climate change intensify these cycles? How do they affect the population?

What are drought cycles?

Drought cycles (and humidity) are recurring and historically predictable repetitions in which alternating wet and dry periods occur in a specific region. The duration of these cycles varies depending on the region and they are associated with different rainfall patterns. Drought cycles have become longer and less humid in recent decades.

How often do the African drought cycles occur?

As in Asia, Central America, Australia or South Asia, there are short and annual cycles and long-term cycles of drought. Short cycles can be easily related to rainfall.

Short and often annual drought cycles

Africa experiences these cycles at different intervals, many are related to the annual monsoon that blows across numerous territories once a year, particularly the central-western region. The map illustrates these characteristic rainfall cycles.

drought cycles in Africa - 10

Unlike the Asian Monsoon that sweeps across the continent each year, East Africa, a particularly the Horn of Africa, is the region that experiences the most serious and prolonged droughts. It receives little or no rainfall each year. The same occurs in North Africa, a region greatly exposed to the most persistent form of droughts:

Long and unpredictable drought cycles

Long drought cycles are much more complex because they depend on a complicated balance between atmospheric and climate variables. The area of Sahel [below in brown] has always been the worst affected by these prolonged decreases in humidity in the atmosphere, and all the available reports (including the most recent IPCC report) indicate that the drought is getting worse due to climate change.

drought cycles in Africa - 11

Annual humidity variations are causing these prolonged periods of drought lasting many years, and sometimes decades. For example, the Sub-Saharan droughts of 1910, 1950, 1960, 1980, 2000 and 2010 were particularly severe, and the FAO warned that although "since then, starting in 1988 the Sahel has recorded a series of good years (frequently accompanied by floods)", the reality is that rainfall will continue fluctuating, and that good and bad years will continue occurring."

What causes the African drought cycles?

The African drought cycles have a noticeable 'natural' component: they are partly caused by geophysical phenomena that make the continent's humidity fluctuate. Unfortunately, in addition to these phenomena, emissions of greenhouse gases from human activities have led to serious droughts amplified by global warming.

Another problem, besides the climate issue, is related to the wildfires sweeping across Africa. The green heart of the African continent, the Congo Basin, has more wildfires than anywhere else in the world. These fires dry the air and release vast quantities of CO2 into the atmosphere, aggravating the local and global problem.

drought cycles in Africa - 12EOS (LANCE) NASA's Earth Observing System Data and Information System

As the atmosphere gets warmer, the relative humidity in the African regions decreases and the drought period becomes longer and more severe. In turn, rising ocean temperatures lead to more extreme variations in weather causing increased precipitation.

Rainfall events are shorter but more extreme. The soil is not able to absorb and retain the water. This results in longer and more intense droughts, eroded soil due to rainfall runoff and widespread forest loss.

What are the impacts of the drought in African countries?

Ecosystems are affected when a region experiences a prolonged or persistent drought. Agricultural and farming activities are greatly affected too, with the subsequent direct social and economic impacts. Particularly in regions still highly dependent on the primary sector.

Food insecurity

Publications in 1987 already warned that the drought cycles in sub-Saharan African would pose a serious problem in the future and a major challenge for agriculture in the region. Since 2015, the region has experienced an increasing rise in food insecurity due partly to climate change.

Experts at the University of California have warned through an article published in Plos One about the increased likelihood of drought as the rainy season onset is later each year, leading to record droughts over five consecutive years.

Climate refugee crisis

One of the most affected regions is the Horn of Africa, with the longest droughts in Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Somalia caused, partly, by the La Niña conditions that lasted from June 2010 to May 2011. To a large extent, this weather phenomenon determines the climate in the region.

Unfortunately, from 2020 to 2021, La Niña has once again been classified as a 'strong' event, therefore the situation in the Horn of Africa is expected to worsen considerably in the coming years. For one reason or another, the continent is still being severely affected by drought.

As in North Africa, where the drought conditions have been persistent since 2000; South Africa is suffering from water shortages. It is particularly striking that in some areas of South Africa it hasn't rained in five consecutive years, such as Adelaide (South Africa).

These phenomena are forcing thousands of families to flee the region and enter neighboring countries which, in turn, causes political instability. An analysis by the OECD in 2019 confirmed that climate change is one of the main driving factors of migration. More than wars. Although, unfortunately, droughts also cause conflicts.

There may be a 'natural' component behind the drought cycles in Africa, but they are affected by a human factor with multiplying effects: a significant part of the water crisis depends on how sustainable our lifestyle habits are, both today and tomorrow.

Images | Tucker Tangeman, Encyclopædia Britannica, Wikipedia

Related content

Recommended profiles for you

Remember to activate your profile to network!
Activate profile
PA
Paola Aldaz
DDB group
Chief Innovation Officer
MV
Marc Vives
Granollers Mercat
Business and entrepreneurship technitian. Focused on promoting the circular economy in industries
Máté Gallai
Máté Gallai
Kuube Hungary Ltd.
CEO / Owner.
ZZ
Zainul Abidin Zainul
KurikKurikCrew
Senior programmer
LL
Lyda Maritza Gamboa Leguizamon Lyda
Arquitecta
Principal
KR
Kriaa Rym
UCA
Student
AD
Ana Maria Diaz
Turner & Townsend
Project Manager
hk
hyuksang kwon
Univercity
STUDENT
Neil Van Salinas
Neil Van Salinas
FRNHS
Teacher
PILAR MARTINEZ
PILAR MARTINEZ
FBM
General Director
KV
Konstantinos Vrouchos
Stirixis Techniki SA
Senior VP, Business Development
GZ
Guillermo Zamudio
Zepsix
Founder and business developer
Gavardo  Rettaroli
Gavardo Rettaroli
DeliGrow by Human Blink Innovation
Founder
CA
Crox Alvarado
SOLIDTEC
Manager
Efren Mier
Efren Mier
Mier Consulting
Director
JZ
Javier Zardoya Illana
Pamplona Municipal Energy Agency
Manager
MY
Melissa Yauri
WATAY
Cofundadora y coordinadora de proyectos en educación ambiental
JG
Jose Vicente Garrido
Intehral Innovation Solutions
Ceo
ga
giuseppe acito
AWS
Business Development Power and Utilities
PG
PRABHAKAR GARG
K C POWERTRACKS
CEO

SmartCity
Thank you for registering to Tomorrow.City. You can now start exploring all the content for free!
Only accessible for registered users
This content is available only for registered users
TO: $$toName$$
SUBJECT: Message from $$fromName$$