Theclimate of Africa is a range of climates such as theequatorial climate, thetropical wet and dry climate, thetropical monsoon climate, thesemi-arid climate (semi-desert and steppe), thedesert climate (hyper-arid and arid), thehumid subtropical climate, and thesubtropical highland climate. Temperate climates are rare across the continent except at very high elevations and along the fringes. In fact, the climate ofAfrica is more variable by rainfall amount than by temperatures, which are consistently high. African deserts are the sunniest and the driest parts of the continent, owing to the prevailing presence of thesubtropical ridge with subsiding, hot, dry air masses. Africa holds many heat-related records: the continent has the hottest extended region year-round, the areas with the hottest summer climate, the highest sunshine duration, and more.
Owing to Africa's position across equatorial and subtropical latitudes in both the northern and southern hemisphere, several different climate types can be found within it. The continent mainly lies within theintertropical zone between theTropic of Cancer and theTropic of Capricorn, hence its interesting density of humidity. Precipitation intensity is always high, and it is a hot continent. Warm and hot climates prevail all over Africa, but mostly the northern part is marked by aridity and hightemperatures. Only the northernmost and the southernmost fringes of the continent have aMediterranean climate. The equator runs through the middle of Africa, as do the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn, making Africa the most tropical continent.
Globally, heating of the earth near the equator leads to large amounts of upward motion and convection along themonsoon trough orIntertropical Convergence Zone. The divergence over the near-equatorial trough leads to air rising and moving away from the equator aloft. As it moves towards the Mid-Latitudes, the air cools and sinks, which leads to subsidence near the 30th parallel of both hemispheres. This circulation is known as theHadley cell and leads to the formation of the subtropical ridge.[2] Many of the world's deserts are caused by these climatologicalhigh-pressure areas,[3] including the Sahara Desert.
Temperatures are hottest within the Sahara regions ofAlgeria andMali,[4] and coolest across the south and at elevation within the topography across the eastern and northwest sections of the continent. The hottest average temperature on Earth is atDallol, Ethiopia, which averages a temperature of 33.9 °C (93.0 °F) throughout the year.[5] The hottest temperature recorded within Africa, which was also the world record, was 57.8 °C (136.0 °F) at'Aziziya, Libya, on 13 September 1922. This was later proven to be false, being derived from an inaccurate reading of a thermometer. The world's hottest place is in factDeath Valley, in California.[6][7][8] Apparent temperatures, combining the effect of the temperature and humidity, along theRed Sea coast of Eritrea andGulf of Aden coast of Somalia range between 57 °C (135 °F) and 63 °C (145 °F) during the afternoon hours.[4] The lowest temperature measured within Africa was −24 °C (−11 °F) atIfrane, Morocco, on 11 February 1935.[9] Nevertheless, the major part of Africa experiencesextreme heat during much of the year, especially the deserts, semi-deserts, steppes and savannas. The African deserts are arguably the hottest places on Earth, especially the Sahara Desert and the Danakil Desert, located in the Horn of Africa.
The mid-level African easterly jet stream north of the equator is considered to play a crucial role in the West Africanmonsoon,[10] and helps form thetropical waves which march across the tropical Atlantic and the eastern part of the Pacific during the warm season.[11] The jet exhibits bothbarotropic andbaroclinic instability, which producessynoptic-scale, westward-propagating disturbances in the jet known as African easterly waves, or tropical waves. A small number of mesoscale storm systems embedded in these waves develop intotropical cyclones after they move from west Africa into the tropical Atlantic, mainly during August and September. When the jet lies south of normal during the peak months of theAtlantic hurricane season, tropical cyclone formation is suppressed.[12]
Low-level jets are fast winds which form close to the surface (within 1.5 km). They affect a number of climate processes across Africa. The Somali Low-level Jet,[13] which forms of the coast of East Africa, contributes to the existence of the Somali Desert.[14][15] Low-level jets of theSahara are known to be important for raising dust off the dry desert surface. For example, the low-level jet over Chad,[16] is the driver of dust emission from theBodélé Depression, the largest source ofatmospheric dust on the planet.[17] Easterly low-level jets which form in river valleys across theEast African Rift System supply millions of tonnes of water vapour originating from the Indian Ocean across East Africa and to the Congo rainforest.[18] In doing so, they leave East Africa unusually dry for its latitude.[19] Low-level southwesterlies emanating from theGulf of Guinea are the key moisture source for the West Africanmonsoon in northern hemisphere summer.[20]
TheTropical Easterly Jet, which forms high up in the atmosphere, 15–17 km above the surface, is another important factor. Variations to the speed and position of thisjet stream can affect rainfall in the Congo Basin and theSahel.[21]
Great parts of North Africa and Southern Africa as well as the wholeHorn of Africa mainly have ahot desert climate, or ahot semi-arid climate for the wetter locations. TheSahara Desert in North Africa is the largest hot desert in the world and is one of the hottest, driest and sunniest places on Earth. Located just south of the Sahara is a narrowsemi-desertsteppe (a semi-arid region) called theSahel, while Africa's most southern areas contain bothsavannaplains, and its central portion, including theCongo Basin, contains very densejungle (rainforest) regions. The western equatorial region is the wettest portion of the continent. Annually, the rain belt across the continent moves northward intoSub-Saharan Africa by August, then passes back southward into south-central Africa by March.[22] Areas with a savannah climate in Sub-Saharan Africa, such asGhana,Burkina Faso,[23][24]Darfur,[25]Eritrea,[26]Ethiopia,[27] andBotswana have a distinct rainy season.[28]El Nino results in drier-than-normal conditions in Southern Africa from December to February, and wetter-than-normal conditions in equatorial East Africa over the same period.[29]
InMadagascar,trade winds bring moisture up the eastern slopes of the island, which is deposited as rainfall, and bring drier downsloped winds to areas south and west, leaving the western sections of the island in arain shadow. This leads to significantly more rainfall over northeast sections of Madagascar than its southwestern portions.[30] Southern Africa receives most of its rainfall from summer convective storms, tropical lows,mesoscale convective systems.Extratropical cyclones moving through theWesterlies, can also bring significant winter rainfall. Once a decade, tropical cyclones lead to excessive rainfall across the region.[31]
Snow is an almost annual occurrence on some of the mountains of South Africa, including those of theCedarberg and aroundCeres in the South-Western Cape, and on theDrakensberg inNatal andLesotho. Tiffendell Resort, in theDrakensberg, is the only commercial ski resort in South Africa, and has "advanced snow-making capability" allowing skiing for three months of the year.[32] TheMountain Club of South Africa (MCSA) and the Mountain and Ski Club (MSC)[33] of theUniversity of Cape Town both have equipped ski huts in the Hex River mountains. Skiing including snowboarding in the Cape is a hit-and-miss affair, both in terms of timing of snowfalls, and whether there is sufficient snow to cover the rocks.
Table Mountain gets a light dusting of snow on the Front Table and also at Devil's Peak every few years. Snowfalls on Table Mountain took place on 20 September 2013;[34] 30 August 2013;[35] 5 August 2011;[36] and on 15 June 2010.[37]
Snow is a rare occurrence inJohannesburg; it fell in May 1956, August 1962, June 1964, September 1981, August 2006, and on 27 June 2007,[38] accumulating up to 10 centimetres (3.9 in) in the southern suburbs.
Additionally, snow regularly falls in theAtlas Mountains in theMaghreb, as well as theMediterranean regions andSinai peninsula ofEgypt. Snowfall is also a regular occurrence atMount Kenya andMount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.
There have been permanentglaciers on theRwenzori Mountains, on the border ofUganda and theDemocratic Republic of the Congo. However, by the 2010s, the glaciers were in retreat, and they are under threat of disappearing through rising temperatures.[39]
Climate change in Africa is an increasingly serious threat as Africa is among the mostvulnerable continents to theeffects of climate change.[40][41][42] Some sources even classify Africa as "the most vulnerable continent on Earth".[43][44]Climate change andclimate variability will likely reduceagricultural production,food security andwater security.[45] As a result, there will be negative consequences on people's lives andsustainable development in Africa.[41]
Over the coming decades, warming from climate change is expected across almost all the Earth's surface, and global mean rainfall will increase.[46] Currently, Africa is warming faster than the rest of the world on average. Large portions of the continent may become uninhabitable as a result of the rapid effects of climate change, which would have disastrous effects on human health, food security, and poverty.[47][48][49] Regional effects on rainfall in the tropics are expected to be much more spatially variable. The direction of change at any one location is often less certain.
Observedsurface temperatures have generally increased by about 1 °C in Africa since the late 19th century to the early 21st century.[50] In theSahel, the increase has been as much as 3 °C for the minimum temperature at the end of the dry season.[50] Data for temperature and rainfall shows discrepancies from the norm, both in timing and location.[51][41][52]
For instance,Kenya has a high vulnerability to the impacts of climate change. The mainclimate hazards includedroughts andfloods as rainfall will likely become more intense and less predictable.Climate models predict that temperatures will rise by 0.5 to 2 °C.[53] In the informal urban settlements ofNairobi theurban heat island effect adds to the problem as it creates even warmer ambient temperatures. This is due to home construction materials, lack of ventilation, sparse green space, and poor access to electrical power and other services.[54]
TheAfrican Union has put forward 47 goals and corresponding actions in a 2014 draft report to combat and mitigate climate change in Africa.[55]The International Monetary Fund suggested in 2021 that $50 billion might be necessary to cover the costs ofclimate change adaptation in Africa.[56][57][58]In chapter 9 of the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report, it is reported that although greenhouse gas emissions are among the lowest in Africa, anthropogenic climate change has severely threatened daily life. People experience extreme food insecurity, high mortality rates, major biodiversity loss, and more as a result of global warming. Additionally, because of reduced economic activity and growth and inequities in funding, the ability foradaptation to these conditions is also reduced.[59]
Tornadoes can occur regularly inSouth Africa along the eastern coast with the Indian Ocean.[60]
Powerfultropical cyclones regularly affect southeastern Africa. On average, 1.5 tropical cyclones strikeMadagascar each year, which is the most affected area in Africa.[61] In March 1927, a tropical cyclone struck eastern Madagascar, killing at least 500 people.[62] In March 2004,Cyclone Gafilo hit northeastern Madagascar as one of the island's strongest ever cyclones, killing 363 people, leaving US$250 million in damage.[63][64] In March 2019,Cyclone Idai hit central Mozambique and killed 1,302 people across Southern Africa, – affecting more than 3 million people. Total damages from Idai across Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Madagascar, and Malawi were estimated to be at least $2.2 billion (2019USD).[65][66] Roughly one month later,Cyclone Kenneth struck northern Mozambique as the country's strongest ever landfall.[67] In 2020,Cyclone Freddy struck Mozambique in two different locations, producing widespread rainfall that killed 1,434 people along its path, mostly in Malawi.[68][69]
Occasionally,cyclones in the Mediterranean can affect northern Africa, and which also have characteristics of a tropical cyclone. In September 2023,Storm Daniel moved ashoreLibya and produced heavy rainfall, producing flash flooding after two dams failed. The storm killed at least 4,333 people in the country, becoming thedeadliest storm to hit Africa in recorded history.[70][71] In September 1969, a cyclone in the Mediterranean Sea killed nearly 600 people inTunisia andLibya.[72] Cyclones from the Indian Ocean can strike theHorn of Africa. In November 2013, adeep depression struck Somalia and killed 162 people while also causing extensive livestock damage.[73][74][75] The temperature contrast between the hotSahara Desert in northern Africa and the coolerGulf of Guinea to the south produces theAfrican easterly jet, which generatestropical waves, or an elongatedarea of low pressure. These waves are often theformation source ofAtlantic andPacific hurricanes.[76]
Africa'sweather forecasting infrastructure is significantly underdeveloped, affecting its ability to manage severe weather events. With a population of approximately 1.2 billion, Africa only has 37weather radar stations, in stark contrast to the 636 stations in the United States and European Union. This scarcity of weather stations and early warning systems leads to inadequatedisaster preparedness and response, compounded by maintenance issues with many existing radar systems. The lack of proper infrastructure results in high fatality rates and extensive damage during disasters. For instance, in 2023, severe flooding and landslides aroundLake Kivu resulted in at least 600 deaths, andCyclone Idai inEast Africa caused over 1,000 deaths due to insufficient early warnings. These incidents underscore the urgency of investing in early warning systems, which can significantly reduce damage and save lives. TheWorld Meteorological Organization suggests that an $800 million investment in developing countries could prevent annual losses of $3 to $16 billion.[77]
