In September 2024, within just two days, the Sahara received as much rain as it usually does in an entire year. This has led to devastating floods, with more than 1,000 people losing their lives, hundreds of farmers losing their crops, and millions of people being forced to relocate.
Intense Rainfall and Flooding in the Sahara: The First Time in Decades
Though it may seem unbelievable, such downpours have occurred on the Sahara before, but decades have passed since anything like this has happened.
"It’s been 30 to 50 years since we’ve seen such heavy rainfall in such a short period," commented Moroccan meteorologist Houssine Youabeb, as quoted by Interia.pl. He also added that such extratropical storms could change the weather in the region not only for the coming months but possibly for years. Storm chaser Colin McCarthy also highlighted the unusual storms over the Sahara, posting a video on platform X that illustrated the changes happening in the desert.
"The southern part of the Sahara is incredibly green this year due to the monsoon shifting over Africa," he explained in the video.
The Sahara Turns Green Due to Heavy Rainfall and Earth's Axis Shifts
Though the heavy rains and flooding in the Sahara may seem unusual, they are not entirely unprecedented. A few years ago, scientists from MIT studied desert dust and discovered that the climate in North Africa, including the Sahara, shifts every 20,000 years between dry and wet periods.
Five thousand years ago, the world’s largest hot desert was also a lush, green area, with even heavier rains than today. And why? It’s all due to changes in the Earth’s axis relative to the Sun, which also affects the climate.
