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Everyone says that it is hot in africa, people walk thinly dressed and a large part of this continent is covered by desert. But why is this happening?
The first reason – the sun
When you leave the house on a summer day, the sun is usually responsible for the temperature. It produces various waves and radiation that reach the Earth, also in the form of heat.
The sun is closest to the equator (or the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn – depending on the season) – that's the easiest to remember. Although remember that it is really about the angle of incidence – the closer to an equal angle, the warmer it is. And where is Africa? In the warmest zone between tropics.
Second reason – sea currents
Rivers flow in the oceans, we call them sea currents. They usually stand out because they have a different temperature than other surrounding water. You can't see them with the naked eye, but they affect the local climate and sometimes the formation of deserts. In Africa, such an example is the Namib Desert. The Benguel Current cools the air above it and prevents condensation and, as a result, rainfall. There is no rain – there is a desert.
Reason three – air circulation in the atmosphere
Air circulation in the atmosphere is a difficult concept. Simply put, this is the way the masses, fragments of air around the Earth move. As you already know, the hottest sun shines above the equator. The earth heats up, evaporates and all warm air rises. But the higher, the colder, so the air cools down, but it cannot fall in the same place, because from below there are still more warm air masses. This chilled air looks for a place and flies sideways. Above the Tropics, it is already cold enough and has free space, so it falls freely to the ground level. To balance it can be added that it is slowly moving towards the equator, because colleagues are coming from above, and a void is forming above the equator because everyone has already ascended. Sounds a bit complicated, but look at the picture above and everything will brighten up.
When the cold air falls, as in the case of sea currents, water vapour has no way to condense and rain cannot fall. This is how the four largest desert areas in Africa were created – Sahara, deserts of the Arabian Peninsula, Kalahari and Namib.
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