the sahel, or southern margin of the sahara desert, is prone to what environmental hazard?

Ecoclimatic and biogeographic transition zone in Africa

Sahel
Camels trample the soil in the semiarid Sahel as they motion to h2o holes, such as this one in Chad
The Sahel region in Africa: a belt upwards to 1,000 km (620 mi) wide that spans v,400 km (3,360 mi) from the Atlantic Sea to the Cerise Sea
Ecology
Realm	Afrotropical
Biome	Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands
Borders	Listing Southward Saharan steppe and woodlands East Saharan montane xeric woodlands West Saharan montane xeric woodlands Inner Niger Delta Lake Chad flooded savanna Sudd flooded grasslands E Sudanian savanna Due west Sudanian savanna Ethiopian montane forests
Animals	Camels, Horses
Bird species	Migratory birds
Mammal species	Oryx, Gazelles, African buffalo
Geography
Expanse	iii,053,200 kmtwo (1,178,800 sq mi)
Countries	List Senegal Gambia Islamic republic of mauritania Republic of mali Burkina Faso Niger Nigeria Republic of chad Central African Republic South Sudan Sudan Eritrea Ethiopia
Height	200 and 400 meters (660 and 1,310 ft)
Rivers	Senegal, Niger, Nile
Climate type	Semi-arid

The Sahel (; Arabic: ساحل sāḥil [ˈsaːħil], "coast, shore")^[1] is the ecoclimatic and biogeographic realm of transition in Africa between the Sahara to the n and the Sudanian savanna to the due south. Having a semi-barren climate, it stretches across the south-key latitudes of Northern Africa between the Atlantic Ocean and the Red Sea.

The Sahel part of Africa includes from west to eastward parts of northern Senegal, southern Mauritania, fundamental Mali, northern Burkina Faso, the extreme south of Algeria, Niger, the extreme north of Nigeria, the farthermost due north of Cameroon and Cardinal African Republic, central Chad, central and southern Sudan, the extreme north of Due south Sudan, Eritrea and the extreme north of Federal democratic republic of ethiopia.^[2]

Historically, the western part of the Sahel was sometimes known as the Sudan region (bilād as-sūdān بلاد السودان "lands of the Sudan"). This belt was roughly located betwixt the Sahara and the coastal areas of W Africa.

Geography [edit]

The lush green of the rainy season Sahelian forest, along the Bamako-Kayes Road in Mali. The trees in the foreground are acacia. Note the large baobab tree.

Herders with livestock and azawakh dogs in the Sahel

The Sahel spans 5,900 km (3,670 mi) from the Atlantic Ocean in the w to the Cherry-red Sea in the east, in a belt that varies from several hundred to a chiliad kilometers (c. 600 miles) in width, covering an area of 3,053,200 square kilometers (one,178,850 sq mi). It is a transitional ecoregion of semi-arid grasslands, savannas, steppes, and thorn shrublands lying between the wooded Sudanian savanna to the southward and the Sahara to the north.^[iii]

The topography of the Sahel is mainly flat; near of the region lies between 200 and 400 meters (660 and 1,310 ft) in superlative. Several isolated plateaus and mountain ranges rise from the Sahel, but are designated as separate ecoregions because their flora and fauna are distinct from the surrounding lowlands. Almanac rainfall varies from around 100–200 mm (4–8 in) in the due north of the Sahel to around 700–i,000 mm (28–39 in) in the southward.^[3]

Flora and fauna [edit]

The Sahel is more often than not covered in grassland and savanna, with areas of woodland and shrubland. Grass cover is fairly continuous across the region, dominated by almanac grass species such as Cenchrus biflorus, Schoenefeldia gracilis and Aristida stipoides. Species of acacia are the ascendant trees, with Acacia tortilis the most common, along with Acacia senegal and Acacia laeta. Other tree species include Commiphora africana, Balanites aegyptiaca, Faidherbia albida, and Boscia senegalensis. In the northern part of the Sahel, areas of desert shrub, including Panicum turgidum and Aristida sieberana, alternate with areas of grassland and savanna. During the long dry season, many copse lose their leaves and the predominantly almanac grasses die.

The Sahel was formerly domicile to large populations of grazing mammals, including the scimitar-horned oryx (Oryx dammah), dama gazelle (Gazella dama), Dorcas gazelle (Gazella dorcas), red-fronted gazelle (Gazella rufifrons), the giant prehistoric buffalo (Pelorovis) and Bubal hartebeest (Alcelaphus busephalus buselaphus), along with large predators like the African wild domestic dog (Lycaon pictus), the Northwest African cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus hecki), the Northeast African cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus soemmeringii), the lion (Panthera leo). The larger species have been profoundly reduced in number past over-hunting and contest with livestock, and several species are vulnerable (Dorcas gazelle, cheetah, lion and red-fronted gazelle), endangered (Dama gazelle and African wild dog), or extinct (the Scimitar-horned oryx is probably extinct in the wild, and both Pelorovis and the Bubal hartebeest are now extinct).

The seasonal wetlands of the Sahel are of import for migratory birds moving inside Africa and on the African-Eurasian flyways.^[3]

Climate [edit]

The Sahel has a tropical semi-arid climate (Köppen climate nomenclature BSh). The climate is typically hot, sunny, dry and somewhat windy all yr long. The Sahel's climate is similar to, simply less extreme than, the climate of the Sahara desert located just to the northward.

The Sahel mainly receives a low to very low amount of precipitation annually. The steppe has a very long, prevailing dry season and a curt rainy season. The precipitation is also extremely irregular, and varies considerably from flavour to flavour. Most of the rain commonly falls during four to six months in the heart of the year, while the other months may remain absolutely dry. The interior of the Sahel region generally receives between 200 mm and 700 mm of rain yearly. A system of subdivisions often adopted for the Sahelian climate based on almanac rainfall is as follows: the Saharan-Sahelian climate, with mean annual precipitation between around 100 and 200 mm (such as Khartoum, Sudan), the strict Sahelian climate, with hateful annual precipitation betwixt effectually 200 and 700 mm (such equally Niamey, Niger) and the Sahelian-Sudanese climate, with mean annual precipitation betwixt around 700 and ane,200 mm (such every bit Bamako, Mali). The relative humidity in the steppe is low to very depression, often between 10% and 25% during the dry season and between 25% and 75% during the rainy season. The to the lowest degree boiling places have a relative humidity under 35%.

The Sahel is characterized by constant, intense heat, with an unvarying temperature. The Sahel rarely experiences cold temperatures. During the hottest period, the boilerplate high temperatures are generally betwixt 36 and 42 °C (97 and 108 °F) (and fifty-fifty more than in the hottest regions), often for more than iii months, while the average low temperatures are around 25 to 31 °C (77 to 88 °F). During the "coldest period", the average loftier temperatures are betwixt 27 and 33 °C (81 and 91 °F) and the average depression temperatures are betwixt 15 and 21 °C (59 and 70 °F). Everywhere in the Sahel, the average mean temperature is over eighteen °C (64 °F).

The Sahel has a loftier to very high sunshine duration yr-circular, between ii,400 hours (virtually 55% of the daylight hours) and 3,600 hours (more than 80% of the daylight hours). The sunshine duration in the Sahel approaches desert levels, and is comparable to that in the Arabian Desert, for instance, even though the Sahel is just a steppe and not a desert. The deject encompass is low to very low. For example, Niamey, Niger has 3,082 hours of vivid sunshine; Gao, Mali has most 3,385 hours of sunshine; Timbuktu, Mali has 3,409 sunny hours, and N'Djamena, Chad has 3,205 hours of sunlight.^{[4] [v] [6] [7]}

Civilisation [edit]

Traditionally, most of the people in the Sahel have been semi-nomads, farming and raising livestock in a system of transhumance, which is probably the virtually sustainable way of utilizing the Sahel. The difference betwixt the dry North with college levels of soil nutrients and the wetter South with more than vegetation, is utilized by having the herds graze on high-quality feed in the N during the wet season, and trek several hundred kilometers to the South to graze on more than abundant, but less nutritious feed during the dry out catamenia.^{[ citation needed ]}

In Western Sahel, polygamy and child marriage are mutual.^[8] Female genital mutilation is also skilful across the Sahel.^{[8] [nine]}

Etymology [edit]

The term "Sahel" is borrowed from the Arabic proper name for the region, الساحل al-sāḥil . Sāḥil literally means "coast, shore",^[i] which has been explained equally a figurative reference to the southern edge of the vast Sahara.^{[10] [eleven]} However, such use is unattested in Classical Arabic, and information technology has been suggested that the word may originally have been derived from the Standard arabic word سهل sahl "manifestly" instead.^[12]

History [edit]

Early agronomics [edit]

Around 4000 BC, the climate of the Sahara and the Sahel started to become drier at an exceedingly fast step. This climate alter caused lakes and rivers to compress rather significantly and acquired increasing desertification. This, in turn, decreased the corporeality of land conducive to settlements and caused migrations of farming communities to the more humid climate of West Africa.^[13]

Sahelian kingdoms [edit]

1905 delineation of ethnic groups in the Sahel

The Sahelian kingdoms were a series of monarchies centered in the Sahel betwixt the 9th and 18th centuries. The wealth of united states came from decision-making the trans-Saharan trade routes across the desert, especially with the Islamic earth. Their ability came from having large pack animals like camels and horses that were fast enough to keep a big empire under central control and were as well useful in battle. All of these empires were quite decentralized with member cities having a swell deal of autonomy. The first large Sahelian kingdoms emerged after AD 750 and supported several large trading cities in the Niger Bend region, including Timbuktu, Gao and Djenné.

The Sahel states were hindered from expanding due south into the forest zone of the north Akan state of Bonoman and Yoruba peoples as mounted warriors were all merely useless in the forests and the horses and camels could not survive the heat and diseases of the region.^[14]

Colonial menses [edit]

The Western Sahel vicious to French republic in the late 19th century as role of French West Africa. Chad was added in 1900 every bit office of French Equatorial Africa. The French territories were decolonized in 1960.

The Eastern Sahel (the part in what is now Sudan) did not fall to the European powers merely was annexed by Muhammad Ali of Arab republic of egypt in 1820. It came nether British administration as part of the Sultanate of Egypt in 1914. The Sudanese Sahel became part of contained Sudan in 1956, and South Sudan in turn achieved its independence from Sudan proper in 2011.

Recent droughts [edit]

For hundreds of years, the Sahel region has experienced regular droughts and megadroughts. One megadrought lasted from 1450 to 1700, 250 years.^[xv] At that place was a major drought in the Sahel in 1914 caused past almanac rains far below average, leading to big-scale famine. From 1951 to 2004, the Sahel experienced some of the most consistent and astringent droughts in Africa.^[xvi] The 1960s saw a large increase in rainfall in the region, making the northern drier region more accessible. There was a push button, supported by governments, for people to move northwards. When the long drought period from 1968 through 1974 began, grazing quickly became unsustainable and large-scale denuding of the terrain followed. Like the drought in 1914, this led to a large-scale famine, but this time somewhat tempered by international visibility and an outpouring of assistance. This ending led to the founding of the International Fund for Agronomical Development.

2010 drought [edit]

Betwixt June and Baronial 2010, famine struck the Sahel.^[17] Niger'due south crops failed to mature in the heat, 350,000 faced starvation, and ane,200,000 were at risk of dearth.^[18] In Chad the temperature reached 47.6 °C (117.7 °F) on 22 June in Faya-Largeau, breaking a record prepare in 1961 at the aforementioned location. Niger tied its highest temperature record gear up in 1998, likewise on 22 June, at 47.1 °C in Bilma. That record was broken the side by side day, when Bilma hitting 48.ii °C (118.8 °F). The hottest temperature recorded in Sudan was reached on 25 June, at 49.half-dozen °C (121.3 °F) in Dongola, breaking a tape ready in 1987.^[nineteen] Niger reported on 14 July that diarrhoea, starvation, gastroenteritis, malnutrition and respiratory diseases had sickened or killed many children. The new military machine junta appealed for international food aid and took serious steps to call on overseas help.^[20] On 26 July, the oestrus reached near-record levels over Chad and Niger,^[21] and in northern Niger about 20 people reportedly died of dehydration by 27 July.

Desertification and soil loss [edit]

The Sahel region faces environmental issues that are contributing to global warming. If the alter in climate in the Sahel region "is not slowed-downwards and desertification possibly reversed through sustainable practices and whatever grade of reforestation, it is simply a matter of time earlier" countries like Niger lose their unabridged landmass to desert due to unchecked unsustainable human practises.^{[22] : 9} Over-farming, over-grazing, over-population of marginal lands, and natural soil erosion, accept caused serious desertification of the region.^{[23] [24]} This has affected shelter construction, making it necessary to change the used materials. The Woodless Structure project was introduced in Sahel in 1980 by the Evolution Workshop, achieving since and so a high social impact in the region.^[25] A major initiative to combat desertification in the Sahel region via reforestation and other interventions is the Great Dark-green Wall.

Major dust storms are a frequent occurrence every bit well. During Nov 2004, a number of major dust storms hit Chad, originating in the Bodélé Depression.^[26] This is a common surface area for dust storms, occurring on average on 100 days every year.

On 23 March 2010, a major sandstorm hit Islamic republic of mauritania, Senegal, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, and inland Sierra Leone. Some other struck in southern Algeria, inland Mauritania, Mali and northern Ivory Coast^[27] at the same fourth dimension.

Instability and violence [edit]

Terrorist organizations including Boko Haram and Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) operating in the Sahel accept contributed to the violence, extremism and instability of the region.^{[28] [29]} In March 2020, the United States sent a special envoy for the Sahel region to combat the rising violence from terrorist groups.^[30]

Envoy Peter Pham started his new role on one March 2020.^[31] He has been the U.Southward. Special Envoy for the Slap-up Lakes Region of Africa since November 2018.

The violent herder–farmer conflicts in Nigeria, Republic of mali, Sudan and other countries in the Sahel region have been exacerbated past climate change, state deposition, and population growth.^{[32] [33] [34]} Droughts and food shortages accept been also linked to the Northern Mali conflict.^{[35] [36]}

On 9 July 2020, the Usa raised concerns over growing number of allegations of man rights violations and abuses by state security forces in Sahel.^[37] The Us response came after Human Rights Watch released documents regarding the same on 1 July.^[38] Reports in March 2022 evidence militants are expanding and spreading out South of the Sahel. ^[39]

Protected areas [edit]

Protected areas in the Sahel include Ferlo Nord Wildlife Reserve in Senegal, Sylvo-Pastoral and Partial Faunal Reserve of the Sahel in Burkina Faso, Ansonga-Ménake Faunal Reserve in Republic of mali, Tadres Reserve in Niger, and Waza National Park in Cameroon.^[40]

See besides [edit]

• Community of Sahel-Saharan States
• Epidemiology of Meningitis
• Dark-green Sahara
• Cracking Green Wall
• 2010 Sahel famine
• 2012 Sahel drought
• Sahel drought
• Sudan (region)
• Sudanian savanna
• Pan Sahel Initiative
• Sahara Conservation Fund
• Semi-barren climate
• Trans-Sahelian Highway
• Maghreb
• Haboob

References [edit]

1. ^ ^{a b} "Definition filigree different of Sahel (British and Earth English)". Oxford Dictionaries . Retrieved Oct 10, 2015.
2. ^ "Sahel: $i.half-dozen billion appeal to address widespread humanitarian crisis". United nations Function for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. 31 January 2013. Retrieved 24 June 2013.
3. ^ ^{a b c} "Sahelian Acacia savanna". Terrestrial Ecoregions. Earth Wild fauna Fund. Retrieved 2009-12-07 .
4. ^ "Niamey Climate Niamey Temperatures Niamey Weather Averages". www.niamey.climatemps.com.
5. ^ "Timbuktu Climate Timbuktu Temperatures Timbuktu Weather Averages". www.timbuktu.climatemps.com.
6. ^ "Gao Climate Gao Temperatures Gao Weather condition Averages". www.gao.climatemps.com.
7. ^ "N'Djamena Climate Due north'Djamena Temperatures N'Djamena Weather Averages". www.n-djamena.climatemps.com.
8. ^ ^{a b} "Archived re-create" (PDF) . Retrieved 5 June 2017.
9. ^ "UNICEF West and Key Africa". world wide web.unicef.org.
10. ^ A Organization of Modern Geography. E. Huntington & Co. 1834. pp. 287. sahara sea of sand.
11. ^ "Sahel dictionary definition - Sahel defined". www.yourdictionary.com . Retrieved August 30, 2020.
12. ^ Marcel, Jean Jacques (1837). Vocabulaire Français-Arabe des dialectes vulgaires Africains; D'Alger, de Tunis, de Marok et d'Égypte (in Arabic). Hingray.
13. ^ O'Brien, Patrick Thousand., ed. (2005). Oxford Atlas of World History. New York: Oxford Academy Press. pp. 22–23.
14. ^ Hunwick, John O. (2003-01-01). Timbuktu and the Songhay Empire: Al-Saʿdi's Taʾrīkh Al-Sūdān Down to 1613, and Other Contemporary Documents. BRILL. ISBN978-90-04-12822-4.
15. ^ Brahic, Catherine. "Africa trapped in mega-drought wheel". New Scientist . Retrieved 17 December 2012.
16. ^ Scholl, Adam. "Map Room: Hidden Waters". World Policy Journal. Retrieved 17 Dec 2012.
17. ^ "Drought threatens African humanitarian crisis - Channel iv News". Channel4.com. 2010-07-01. Retrieved 2010-07-28 .
18. ^ Foy, Henry (2010-06-21). "Millions face starvation in w Africa, warn aid agencies". The Guardian. London.
19. ^ Masters, Jeff. "NOAA: June 2010 the globe's quaternary consecutive warmest month on tape". Conditions Underground. Jeff Masters' WonderBlog. Archived from the original on nineteen July 2010. Retrieved 21 July 2010.
20. ^ "Niger: famine on the horizon?". French republic 24. 2010-07-14. Retrieved 2012-10-25 .
21. ^ "wonder Blog: Weather Clandestine". Wonder-ground.com. Archived from the original on 2010-06-27. Retrieved 2010-07-28 .
22. ^ Orioha, M. K. (2018). "Managing Climate Reality in Sub-Sahara Africa" (PDF). Morganorioha.com. Retrieved January 19, 2019.
23. ^ "Causes and Effects of Desertification". Archived from the original on 2013-12-02. Retrieved 2010-06-xix .
24. ^ Schmidt, Laurie J. (eighteen May 2001). "From the Dust Basin to the Sahel". NASA.
25. ^ "Training and employment of locals. [Social Touch]. WConstruction. The promotion of Woodless Construction in West Africa (1980-2017)". SIOR, Social Affect Open Repository.
26. ^ "Dust Tempest in the Bodele Depression". NASA. December 2004. Retrieved nineteen June 2010.
27. ^ "Earth Snapshot • Sand Storm". Archived from the original on 2011-04-29. Retrieved 2010-06-18 .
28. ^ "Sahel". Crunch Group . Retrieved 2019-06-23 .
29. ^ "Tearing Extremism in the Sahel". CSIS.
30. ^ "U.S. creates new envoy position to counter rise terrorism in Sahel". Reuters. 2020-03-06. Retrieved 2020-03-11 .
31. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2020-07-13. Retrieved 2020-07-13 . {{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived re-create equally championship (link)
32. ^ "How Climate Alter Is Spurring Land Conflict in Nigeria". Time. 28 June 2018.
33. ^ "The battle on the frontline of climatic change in Republic of mali". BBC News. 22 January 2019.
34. ^ "Farmer-Herder Conflicts on the Rise in Africa". ReliefWeb. 6 August 2018.
35. ^ "The Sahel in flames". The New Humanitarian. 2019-05-31. Retrieved 2019-06-23 .
36. ^ "Climate change, food shortages, and disharmonize in Mali". Al-Jazeera. 27 April 2015.
37. ^ "Allegations of Man Rights Violations and Abuses in the Sahel". U.S. Diplomatic mission in Mauritania . Retrieved ix July 2020.
38. ^ "Sahel: Atrocities by the security forces are fueling recruitment by armed Islamists". Human Rights Watch. July 2020. Retrieved i July 2020.
39. ^ https://www.wsj.com/articles/sahel-based-militants-edging-south-toward-w-africas-most-stable-and-prosperous-states-11646221800^{[ blank URL ]}
40. ^ "Serial 2 | Ascent tensions in the Sahel". The Informant247. 2022-02-07. Retrieved 2022-02-xvi .

Sources [edit]

• Azam (ed.), Conflict and Growth in Africa: The Sahel, Organisation for Economic Co-performance and Development (1999), ISBN 92-64-17101-0.
• Lagha CHEGROUCHE, "L'arc géopolitique de l'énergie : le croissant énergétique, in Le Soir d'Algérie, 19/12/2010 (in French)

Further reading [edit]

• Dai, A.; Lamb, P.J.; Trenberth, One thousand.E.; Hulme, M.; Jones, P.D.; Xie, P. (2004). "The recent Sahel drought is real" (PDF). International Periodical of Climatology. 24 (11): 1323–1331. Bibcode:2004IJCli..24.1323D. doi:x.1002/joc.1083. .
• Ellis, William S. (August 1987). "The Stricken Country". National Geographic. Vol. 172, no. 2. pp. 140–179. ISSN 0027-9358. OCLC 643483454.
• The Growing Crunch in Africa's Sahel Region: Joint Hearing earlier the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations and the Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa and the Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Trade of the Commission in Foreign Affairs, House of Representatives, 1 Hundred Thirteenth Congress, First Session, May 21, 2013
• Moseley, W.1000. 2008. "Strengthening Livelihoods in Sahelian Due west Africa: The Geography of Evolution and Underdevelopment in a Peripheral Region." Geographische Rundschau International Edition, 4(four): 44–fifty. [i]
• Simon, L., A. Mattelaer and A. Hadfield (2012) "A Coherent EU Strategy for the Sahel". Brussels: European Parliament (DG for External Policies).

External links [edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sahel.

• "Sahelian Acacia savanna". Terrestrial Ecoregions. World Wild animals Fund.
• Earth Wild animals Fund, ed. (2001). "Sahelian Acacia savanna". WildWorld Ecoregion Profile. National Geographic Guild. Archived from the original on 2010-03-08.

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Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sahel

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