Rare Rain in the Sahara Desert | 10 Oct 2024

Source: BS 

Recently, a rare deluge of rainfall has flooded palm trees and sand dunes of the Sahara desert in Morocco. 

• The rain was triggered by the northward shift of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), which has moved further north than usual, resulting in equatorial-like downpours in the Sahara.  
  • ITCZ has produced a powerful extratropical cyclone that swept through northwestern Africa. 
  • An extra-tropical cyclone is a low-pressure system which develops in latitudes outside the tropics which can bring heavy rainfall. 
• Repositioning of ITCZ may be linked to record-high ocean temperatures and climate change. 
• Sahara Desert: It is the world's largest hot desert having a length of approximately 4,800 km and a maximum width of 1,800 km. 
  • It occupies about 31% of the entire African continent. 
  • It stretches among 11 North African nations including Algeria, Egypt, Mali, Morocco, Western Sahara, Tunisia, Chad, Libya, Mauritania, Niger, and Sudan. 

Read More: Deserts in the World