CHAPTER FIVE

5. THE CLIMATE OF ETHIOPIA AND THE HORN

5.1 Introduction
 Due to its closeness to the equator and the Indian Ocean, the
country is subjected to temporal and spatial variations in elements
of weather and climate.
 The climate of Ethiopia is controlled by:
 The seasonal migration of the Inter tropical Convergence Zone
(ITCZ),
 Atmospheric circulations and
 The complex topography of the country.
 ITCZ (inter tropical convergent zone)- a low is the pressure zone
formed by the convergence of NE Trade wind and Equatorial
westerlies.
 The meaning of weather and climate

 Weather is the day-to-day state of the atmosphere and its short-

term (from hours to a few weeks) variations such as temperature,
humidity, precipitation, cloudiness, visibility or wind.
 In general, the weather that impacts the surface of the Earth and
those that live on the surface takes place in the troposphere.

 Climate is weather averaged over an extended period of time

(30-year intervals are typically used in establishing baseline
climatology).
 The difference between weather and climate summarized in a
popular phrase as “Climate is what you expect and weather is
what you get’’
5.2 Elements and controls of weather and climate
 What determines the variations in weather and climate elements
between places and seasons?
 All weather conditions may be traced to the effect of the Sun on the
Earth.
 Hence, these determining factors are called climatic controls.
 Some of the major determining factors are discussed below.
1) Latitude
 Latitude is the distance of a location from the equator.
 It is the position of the place north ward or south ward of the
equator.
 This means the position of a place at the lower latitude (near the
equator) receive high angle of the rays of the sun that increase
intensity and vice versa.
 Ethiopia’s latitudinal location has bearings on its temperature.
 Latitudinal location of Ethiopia and the Horn resulted in;
o high average temperatures,
o high daily Temperature
o small annual ranges of temperature,
o No significant variation in length of day and night between summer
and winter.
…Cont’d
2) Inclination of the Earth's Axis
 Rotation- refers to the spinning of earth on its axis passing through
the north and south poles.
 Direction of the rotation of earth is counter clock wise
 Revolution is the movement of the earth in space round the sun or
orbit of the earth around the sun.
 The earth’s rotation axis makes an angle of about
 66½° with the plane of its orbit around the sun, or
 23½° from the perpendicular to the ecliptic plane.
 This inclination determines the location of the Tropics of Cancer,
Capricorn and the Arctic and Antarctic Circles.
 As the earth revolves around the sun, this inclination produces a
change in the directness of the sun's rays; which in turn causes the
directness of the sun and differences in length of day and seasons.
i. Equinoxes :
 An equinox is the instant of time when the sun strikes the plane
of the Earth's equator.
 During this passage the length of day and night are equal.
 Causes of seasonal changes in the daylight and darkness
periods are
o revolution of the earth along its orbit,
o the inclination of its axis from the plane of that orbit, and
o the constant position (parallelism) of the axis
 The axis of rotation is still inclined but it is tilted sideways
with respect to the sun rather towards or away from the
sun.
…Cont’d
Equinox appears twice a year.
Let’s see two major equinoxes’:
a)The Vernal (spring) equinox:
 The northern hemisphere is beginning to tilt towards the
sun
 It is the day when the point of verticality of sun’s rays
crosses the equator northwards.
 This equinox experiences in Northern Hemisphere when
the sun is exactly above the equator.
 During this period, the length of day and night are equal.
 Vernal (spring) equinox marks the beginning of spring
season.
 March 21 marks the first day of the spring season.
a. The autumn equinox:
 the northern hemisphere is beginning to tilt away the
sun
 Appears to happen when the sun crosses equator giving
approximately equal length between day and night.
 It appears to happen when the visible sun moves south
across the celestial equator on 23rd of September.
 It marks the beginning of Autumn season in the northern
hemisphere.
ii. Solstice
 Solstice is an event when the overhead sun appears to cross
northern or southern points relative to the celestial equator
 Resulting in unequal length of days and nights in the hemispheres.
 Both hemispheres during this event has either the most or least
sunlight of the year.
a) The summer Solstice:
 The sun is directly overhead at the tropics of Cancer
 On June 21st, the northern hemisphere has maximum tilt towards the
sun experiencing longest daylight of the year.
 It is the first day of summer in the Northern Hemisphere.
 The sun is at its highest position in the noonday sky, directly above
23½ in the Tropic of Cancer.
 This date is known as the summer solstice and marks the first day of
the summer in the northern hemisphere.
a. The winter solstice:
 The sun is directly over head at the tropics of Capricorn
 22nd of December is the day when the maximum
southward inclination is attained in the Southern
Hemisphere.
 In this event the sun travels shortest length causing
longest night and shortest daylight.
 In the Northern Hemisphere, it occurs when the sun is
directly over the Tropic of Capricorn, which is located at
23½°south of the equator.
 The winter solstice refers to the first day of winter in the
northern hemisphere.
2) Altitude
 Altitude is the height of location above the sea level.
 Places with different heights/altitude naturally experience different
amount of temperature due to the normal lapse rate.
 For example, Bako (1800m altitude asl and temperature 17 oC), Addis
Ababa (2200 masl, average temperature 16 OC) and Awash 900masl,
temperature 25OC) are located 9o latitude but have different
temperature.
 Under normal conditions there is a general decrease in temperature
with increasing elevation.
 Lapse rate refers the average rate at which temperature changes per
unit of altitudinal change/difference.
 The lapse rate is limited to the lower layer of the atmosphere named
as troposphere.
 The normal lapse rate is 6.5°C per kilometer rise in altitude.
 Cont’d
 The atmosphere is comprised of
layers based on temperature.
 These layers are the
Troposphere,
Stratosphere,
Mesosphere and
Thermosphere.
 A further region at about 500 km
above the Earth's surface is called
the exosphere.
Types of lapse rate : Three types of lapse rates are identified;
 An adiabatic lapse rate is the rate at which the temperature of an air
parcel changes in response to the expansion or compression process
associated with a change in altitude, under the assumption that the process
is adiabatic (meaning that no heat is added or lost during the process).
 Air parcel-is a distinct blob of air that we will imagine we can identify as
it moves through the atmosphere.
o An air parcel will expand as it rises because it encounters lower pressure.
o An air parcel will compress as it sinks because it encounters higher
pressure.
 What happens to the temperature of an air parcel as it expands (rises)
or compresses (sinks)?
o The air parcel cools as it expands (rises).
o The air parcel warms as it compresses (sinks).
o An air parcel will expand and cool as it rises and will compress and
warm as it sinks.
i. Dry adiabatic lapse rate (DALR)
 The temperature changes occurring in the rising or subsiding air
mass are not the result of
o additions of heat to, or withdrawals of heat from outside sources,
o But rather are the consequence of internal processes of expansion
and contraction. This is known as adiabatic temperature change.

 The major cause of adiabatic temperature changes are vertical

displacements of air When air rises, it expands because there is
less weight of air upon it.
 DALR– the rate at which an unsaturated air parcel will cool if it
rises or warm as it sinks (applies to an air parcel with a relative
humidity of less than 100%).
NB: RH refers the amount of moisture present in the air in relation to the max.
amount of moisture the air can hold in a given temperature
 DALR is the change of temperature
that a dry or clear air parcel
experiences when it moves up or
down
 As long as the air in the parcel is
unsaturated (the relative humidity is
less than 100 percent), the rate of
adiabatic cooling or warming remains
constant. .
 The rate of heating or cooling is about
10°C for every 1000m of change in
elevation.
o This rate applies only to unsaturated
air, and thus it is called the DALR
o DALR= 10°C/km .
 ii. Wet/saturated/moist Adiabatic lapse rate (MALR)
 MALR – the rate at which a saturated air parcel will cool if it rises
or warm if it sinks (applies to an air parcel with a relative
humidity of 100%).
Latent Heat
 The amount of energy it takes to melt or boil a certain amount of
material is called a latent heat. Or is the heat released or absorbed
per unit mass when water changes phase.
 If a saturated air containing water droplet were to sink, it would
compress and warm at the moist adiabatic rate because
evaporation of the liquid droplets would start the rate of
compressional warming.
 MALR, the rate at which rising or sinking
saturated air changes its temperature is less
than the DALR.
 Prolonged cooling of air invariably produces
condensation, thereby liberating latent heat.
 Therefore, rising and saturated or precipitating
air cools at a slower rate than air that is
unsaturated.
 This process is called wet adiabatic
temperature change.
 The rate of cooling of wet air is approximately
5oc per 1000 meters ascend.
 Use the dry adiabatic lapse rate or moist
adiabatic lapse rate to determine the
temperature of an air parcel as it rises or sinks
in the atmosphere.
 iii. Environmental lapse rate or Atmospheric lapse late (ELR)
 This refers to the actual, observed change of temperature with altitude.
 Air temperature is normally highest at low elevations next to the earth
and decreases with altitude clearly indicate that most of the atmospheric
heat is received directly from the earth's surface and only indirectly from
the sun.
 But the lower layer is warmer, not only because it is closest to the
direct source of heat but also of its high density.
 It contains more water vapor and dust, which causes it to be a more
efficient absorber of earth radiation than is the thinner, drier, cleaner air
aloft. .
 The principal exception to the rule is the cause of temperature
inversions.
 A temperature inversion- is simply a layer in the atmosphere in which
the temperature increases with height(the layers of the atm.)
o As air rises and expands in the atmosphere,
the temperature decreases.
o The rate of change is 6.5oC/1000 meters.
o Environmental lapse rate – the rate at which the
environment’s temperature decreases with
increasing altitude.
o Use the environmental lapse rate to
determine the temperature of the
environment as you move up or down in the
atmosphere.
 If an air parcel is warmer than its environment
it will rise.
 If an air parcel is colder than its environment it
will sink.
4. Distance from the sea (Nearness to the sea)
 Water bodies have a warming and cooling effect on the surrounding land
masses
 This nature has a greater effect on temperature and rainfall distributions.
 Places very far away from water bodies have higher temperature and less
amount of rain fall. This is very true to the Sahara of Africa.
 Continents heat and cool more rapidly than do oceans.
5. Ocean currents
 Is horizontal movement to water bodies caused by temperature variations
between the polar and tropical water bodies.
 Water bodies that move from poles towards the tropics are cold and they are
called cold ocean currents.
 Polar waters move towards the tropics due to their heaviness in density.
 As a result they flow into the tropics to occupy the going out hot and less
dense waters of the tropics.
 Warm ocean currents provide warming effects to their adjacent areas.
6. Mountain barriers
 Mountains act as barriers for places to become deserts or by
blocking the travelling moisture bearing winds.
 Places behind the mountain facing the moisture bearing winds
receive little rain because they are located at the rain
shadow/leeward side of the mountain.
 Places in front will receive rain since they are located at the wind
ward side.
 A good example is the formation of Kalhari desert in south west
Africa.
 5.3 Spatiotemporal patterns and distribution of temperature and
rainfall in Ethiopia
5.3.1 Spatio-temporal distribution of temperature
 Altitude, latitude, humidity and winds, with varying magnitude have
significant impacts on temperature conditions in Ethiopia.
 The spatial distribution of temperature in Ethiopia is primarily determined
by altitude and latitude.
 The location of Ethiopia at close proximity to equator, a zone of
maximum insolation, resulted for every part of the country to experience
overhead sun twice a year.
 However, in Ethiopia, as it is a highland country, tropical temperature
conditions have no full spatial coverage.
 They are limited to the lowlands in the peripheries.
 Away from the peripheries the land begins to rise gradually and
considerably, culminating in peaks in various parts of the country.
 Cont’d
 Thus temperature, as it is affected by altitude, decreases towards the
interior highlands.
 Mean annual temperature varies from over 30oC in the tropical
lowlands to less than 10oc at very high altitudes.
 The Bale Mountains are among highlands where lowest mean annual
temperatures are recorded.
 The highest mean maximum temperature in the country is recorded
in the Afar Depression.
 Moreover, lowlands of north-western, western and south-eastern
Ethiopian experiences mean maximum temperatures of more than
30oC.
 Environmental influences have their own traditional expressions in
Ethiopia and there are local terms denoting temperature zones as
shown in the table below:
Table 1: Temperature versus Altitude
Altitude (meter) Mean annual Description Local
T emp (0C) Equivalent
3,300 and above 10 or less Cool Wurch
2,300 - 3,300 10 – 15 Cool T emperate Dega
1,500 - 2,300 15 – 20 T emperate Woina Dega
500 - 1,500 20 – 25 Warm T emperate Kola
below 500 25 and above Hot Bereha
 The major controls determining temperature distributions are latitude and
cloud cover.
 In Ethiopia, as in all places in the tropics, the air is frost free and changes in
solar angles are small making intense solar radiation.
 Ethiopia’s daily temperatures are more extreme than its annual averages.
 Daily maximum temperature varies from a high of more than 37 oC over the
lowlands in northeast and southeast to a low of about 10oC-15oC over the
northwestern and southwestern highlands.
 The variation in the amount of solar radiation received daily is small
throughout the year.
 As already explained, temperature is high during the daytime in some places,
and is considerably reduced at night resulting maximum.
 In Ethiopia and elsewhere in the Horn, temperature shows seasonal variations.
 For example, months from March to June in Ethiopia have records of
highest temperatures.
 Conversely, low temperatures are recorded from November to February.
 It is not easy to observe distinct variation in temperature between
seasons as the sun is always high in the tropics.
 However, there is a slight temperature increase in summer.
 Southern part of Ethiopia receives highest records of temperature in
autumn and spring following the relative shift of the sun; whereas
in the northern part of the country, summer season is characterized
by higher temperature.
 It has to be noted that certain seasons should have special
considerations.
 For instance, unlike other parts of Ethiopia, the southern and
southwestern highlands experience reduced temperature.
 This is because the temperature and the amount of energy reaching
the surface is directly related with the directness of the sun.
 The direction of rain bearing winds (leeward or windward side) also
determines the temperature variations in mountainous regions .
 The convergence of Northeast Trade winds and the Equatorial
Westerlies forms the ITCZ, which is a low-pressure zone.
 The inter-annual oscillation of the surface position of the ITCZ
causes a variation in the Wind flow patterns over Ethiopia and the
Horn.
Following the position of the overhead sun, the ITCZ shifts north and
south of the equator.
 In July its position is at the tropic of Cancer
 In January its position is shift to the tropic of Capricorn
 In March and September the position of ITCZ is around the equator
 As the shift takes place, equatorial westerlies from the south and
southwest invade most parts of Ethiopia bringing moist winds.
ITCZ
5.3.2 Spatio-temporal distribution of rainfall
Rainfall system in Ethiopia is characterized by complexities.
 It needs an understanding of the position of Inter Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ),
pressure cells, and Trade Winds.
 Rainfall in Ethiopia is the result is influenced by the position of Inter tropical
Convergence Zone (ITCZ).
 The shift takes place when the trade winds from the north retreat giving the space for
equatorial westerlies.
 This development mainly happens in July in Ethiopia and the Horn causing variability
and seasonality.
 The ITCZ shifts towards south of equator (Tropic of Capricorn) in January.
 During this period, the Northeast Trade Winds carrying non-moisture-laden
dominates the region.
 Afar and parts of Eritrean coastal areas experience rainfall in this period.
 Following the directness of the Sun in March and September around the equator, the
ITCZ shifts towards equator.
 During this time, the central highlands, southeastern highlands and lowlands
 1. Seasonal or temporal variabilities of rainfall
 The seasonal and annual rainfall variations are results of the macro-scale
pressure systems and monsoon flows which are related to the changes in the
pressure systems.
First of all it is better to understand the winds which bring rainfall in Ethiopia
a. Trade winds/NE and SE trade winds):
 Trade winds are extremely steady winds blowing from sub tropical high
pressure area (30S and N) towards the equatorial low pressure belt.
 These winds should have blown from the north to south in the northern
hemisphere and south to north in southern hemisphere.
 But they get deflected to the right in the northern hemisphere and to the left
in the southern hemisphere.
 They blow as north eastern trades in the northern and south eastern trades
in the southern hemisphere.
 They are also known as tropical easterlies and the blow steadily in the same
direction.
b. Westerlies
o These winds blow from sub tropical high pressure belts towards sub polar
low pressure belt.
o The westerlies of southern hemisphere are stronger and constant in direction
than northern hemisphere.
The temporal variability of rainfall are characterized by:
i) Summer (June, July, August)
 During summer months the earth is inclined towards the sun yielding high
sun angles.
 Summer occurs when a hemisphere is tipped towards the sun
 From mid-June to mid-September, majority of Ethiopian regions, except
lowlands in Afar and Southeast, receive rainfall during the summer season
as the sun overheads north of the equator.
 High pressure cells develop on the Atlantic and Indian Oceans around
the tropic of Capricorn.
 Although the Atlantic contributes a lot, the Indian Ocean is also source of
rainfall.
 During this season, Ethiopia and the Horn come under the influence of the
Equatorial Westerlies (Guinea monsoon) and Easterlies.
 Hence, the Guinea monsoon and the South easterly winds are
responsible for the rain in this season.
ii. Autumn (September, October and November)

 Autumn is the season of the year between summer and winter.

 The exact position of the ITCZ changes over the course of the
year, oscillating across the equator.
 In autumn the ITCZ shifts towards the equator weakening the
equatorial westerlies.
 During this season, the south easterlies from Indian Ocean
shower the lowlands in southeastern part of Ethiopia.
iii. Winter (December, January and February)

 During winter, the earth’s oriented away from the sun created
low sun angles.
 Winter occurs when the hemisphere is tipped away from the sun.
 In winter, the overhead sun is far south of equator.
 During this season, northeasterly winds originating from the
landmass of Asia dominantly prevail Ethiopian landmass.
 However, it has no significant coverage compared to other
seasons.
 The northeasterly winds crossing the Red Sea carry very little
moisture and supplies rain only to the Afar lowlands and the Red
Sea coastal areas.
iv. Spring (March, April and May)

 In this season, the noonday sun is shining directly on the equator

while shifting north from south.
 The shift of the ITCZ, results in longer days and more direct
solar radiation providing warmer weather for the northern world.
 In this season, the effect of the northeast trade wind is very
much reduced.
 Conversely, the south easterlies from the Indian Ocean provide
rain to the highlands of Somalia, and to the central and
southeastern lowlands and highlands of Ethiopia.
2. Rainfall regions of Ethiopia
 Based on rainfall distribution, both in space and time, four rainfall
regions can be identified in Ethiopia and the Horn.
 These are:
i. Summer rainfall region
 This region comprises almost all parts of the country, except the
southeastern and northeastern lowlands.
 The region experiences most of its rain during summer (kiremt),
while some places also receive spring (Belg) rain.
 The region is divided in to dry and wet summer rainfall regions.
Hence, the wet corresponds to the area having rainfall of 1,000 mm
or more.
 The High altitudes and the windward side experience such rainfall
amount.
ii. All year-round rainfall regions
 It has many rainy days than any part of the country.
 It is a rainfall region in the southwestern part of the country.
 The wetness of this region is particularly due to the prepotency of
moist air currents of equatorial Westerlies called the Guinea
Monsoons.
 Both duration and amount of rainfall decreases as we move from
southwest to north and eastwards.
 Months in summer gain highest rainfall whereas the winter months
receive the reduced amount.
 The average rainfall in the region varies from 1,400 to over 2,200
mm/year.
ii. Autumn and spring rainfall regions
 The region comprises areas receiving rain following the influence
of southeasterly winds.
 South eastern lowlands of Ethiopia receive rain during autumn and
spring seasons when both the north easterlies and equatorial
westerlies are weak.
 The south-easterlies bring rainfall from the Indian Ocean.
 About 60 percent of the rain is in autumn and 40 percent in spring.
 The average rainfall varies from less than 500 to 1,000 mm.
iv. Winter rainfall region
 This rainfall region receives rain from the northeasterly winds.
 During the winter season, the Red sea escarpments and some parts
of the Afar region receive their main rain.
 5.4 Agro-ecological Zones of Ethiopia
 diverse agro-climatic zones have traditionally been defined in terms
of temperature.
 This system divides the nation into five major climatic zones
namely Bereha, Kolla, Woina Dega, Dega and Wurch.
 This zones are vary in temperature, the type of natural trees and
type of crops grown.
 Natural trees: Type of crop
wirch(afro alpine); no crop
Dega(tid, kerkha) barely, oats, peas, bean
w/dega (zigba, weira) teff, wheat
kola(sholla, bamboo& acacia maize, millet, sorghum
Berha (shot acacia shrubs) no food crops grown
A description on each of the zones is presented as follows.
a) The Wurch Zone
 The Wurch-zone is an area having altitude higher than 3,200 meters
above sea level and mean annual temperature of less than 10 oC.
 Mountains having typically fitting characteristics of this zone
include mountain systems of Ras Dashen, Guna, Megezez in
North Shoa, Batu, Choke, Abune Yoseph etc.
b) Dega Zone
 This is a zone of highlands having relatively higher temperature and
lower altitude compared to the wurch Zones.
 In Ethiopia, the Dega-zone is long inhabited and has dense
human settlement due to reliable rainfall for agriculture and
absence of vector-borne diseases such as malaria.
c) Weyna Dega Zone
 This zone has warmer temperature and moderate rainfall.
 It is the second largest zone covering more than 26% of the landmass
of Ethiopia.
 The temperature and rainfall is highly suitable for majority of crops
grown. Hence, the zone includes most of the agricultural land.
 The Weyna Dega zone has also two growing seasons
d) Kolla Zone
 The geographic peripheries in south, southeast, west and northeastern
part are mainly in this category.
 Although mean annual rainfall is erratic, it can be as high as 1500 mm in
the wet western lowlands of Gambella.
 Rainfall is highly variable from year to year.
 The region is boundary between the hot arid (Bereha) and the humid
climates (Woina Dega).
e) Bereha Zone
 Bereha is the hot arid climate of the desert lowlands.
 The Bereha agro-climatic zone is largely confined to lowland areas
with altitude of lower than 500 meters.
 Around Danakil depression, the elevation goes below the sea level.
 Strong wind, high temperature, low relative humidity, and little
cloud cover usually characterize Bereha.
 Evapo transpiration is always in excess of rainfall.
 Djibouti, majority of Somalia, and coastal areas of Eritrea are
categorized under Kolla and Bereha zones.
 5.5. Climate change/global warming: causes, consequences and response
mechanisms
a) Climate change: refers to any change in climate over time, due to either natural
variability or human activities.
b) Climate Variability: refers to variations in the mean state and other statistics
(such as standard deviations, the occurrence of extremes, etc) of the climate on all
temporal and spatial scales.
c) Global warming: is the increase of the Earth’s average surface temperature
due to a build-up of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere
d) Greenhouse Gas: The gases nitrogen and oxygen is neither absorb nor emit
thermal radiation because they are homo-nuclear diatomic molecules.
Hence, they are not greenhouse gases.
 A greenhouse gas is the one that is able to absorb infrared radiation.
 Only molecules that have at least three atoms can absorb infrared radiation.
 These includes: Carbon Dioxide (CO2); Methane (CH4); Nitrous Oxide (N2O)
These gases are called greenhouse gases because they produce greenhouse
effects - trapping heat that leads to increase in average Earth temperature
5.5.1 Current trends of climate in Ethiopia
Climate change is manifested by:
o Temperature increases
o variation of temperature and precipitation.
o Changes in average climate conditions, and
o Frequency and intensity of extreme climatic events with major
impact on natural and human systems
 Ethiopia ranked 5th out of 184 countries in terms of its risk of drought.
 In the country, 12 extreme drought events were recorded between 1900
and 2010.
 Among the 12, seven of the drought events occurred since 1980.
 The majority of these resulted in famine
 The severe drought of 2015-2016 was exacerbated by the strongest El
Nino that caused successive harvest failures and widespread livestock
deaths in some regions.
i. Trends in temperature variability (seasonal and spatial
variation)
 Over the last decades, Ethiopia has experienced climatic changes.
 Mean annual temperature has shown 0.2°C to 0.28°C rise per
decade over the last 40-50 years.
 A rise in average temperature of about 1.3°C has been observed
between 1960 and 2006.
 The rise has spatial and temporal variation.
 Higher rise in temperature was noted in drier areas in northeast and
southeast part of the country.
 Notably the variability is higher in July-September.
 The number of ‘’hot days’’ and ‘’hot nights’’ has also shown
increment.
 Consequently, the country’s minimum temperature has increased
with 0.37°C to 0.4°C per decade.
 ii. Trends in rainfall variability (seasonal and spatial variation)
 Precipitation has remained fairly stable over the last 50 years when
averaged over the country.
 Rainfall variability is increasing (and predictability is decreasing) in
many parts of the country.
 In some regions, total average rainfall is showing decline.
 For instance, parts of southern, south-western and south-eastern regions
receiving Spring and Summer rainfall have shown decline by 15-20%
between 1975 and 2010.
 Changes in temperature and rainfall increase the frequency and severity
of extreme events such as floods have been a common occurrence,
leading to loss of life and property in numerous parts of the country.
 Warming has exacerbated droughts, and desertification in the lowlands of
the country is expanding.
5.5.2 Causes of climate change
 The causes of climate change are generally categorized as
anthropogenic/manmade and natural causes.
i) Natural Causes
 Here are some of the major natural causes:
1. Earth orbital changes:
 The earth is tilted at an angle of 23.5° to the perpendicular plane of its orbital
path.
 Changes in the tilt of the earth can lead to small but climatically important
changes in the strength of the seasons.
 More tilt means warmer summers and colder winters.
2. Energy Budget:
 Although the Sun’s energy output appears constant, small changes over an
extended period of time can lead to climate changes.
3. Volcanic eruptions: volcanic eruption releases large volumes of sulphur dioxide,
carbon dioxide, water vapor, dust, and ash into the atmosphere.
 The release of large volume of gases and ash can increase planetary reflectivity
causing atmospheric cooling.
ii) Anthropogenic causes
 The warming of earth planet in the past 50 years is majorly driven by human
activities.
1. Emission of gasses from industries and vehicles
 The industrial activities that our modern civilization depends upon have raised
atmospheric carbon dioxide.
2. Burning of forest, urbanization, agriculture activities
 The decomposition of wastes in landfills, agriculture, ruminant digestion and
manure management, synthetic compounds manufacturing, clearing of land for
agriculture, concentration of people in the cities and other human activities have
increased concentrations of greenhouse gases.
3. Depletion of ozone layer by gasses
 The major gases that contribute to the greenhouse effect include Water vapor,
Carbon dioxide (CO2), Methane, Nitrous oxide, Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs).
 Human induced greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous
oxide have caused much of the observed increase in Earth's temperatures over the
past 50 years.
4. World wars (nuclear wars) that results in the use of ballistic shells and explosive
5.5.3 Consequences of climate change
 In many parts of the world, climate change has already caused loss of
life, damaging property and affecting livelihoods.
 The impact of climate change is higher in low income countries,
since they have limited capacity to cope with the changes.
 Some of the consequences of the changing climate include:
1. Impacts on human health:
 The climate change can cause
o increased heat related mortality and morbidity,
o greater frequency of infectious disease epidemics following floods
and storms, and
o substantial health effects following population displacement to
escape extreme weather events.
o raises the incidence of malaria.
 2. Impact on water resources:
 Climate change is leading to
o melting of snow and glaciers that increases rise in sea level,
o increase drought and floods,
o distorts wind flow pattern,
o decreases water table.
 More frequent and longer droughts reduce the amount of run-off
into rivers, streams and lakes. This in turn cause chronic shortages
and quality problems of and the distribution of surface runoff and
stream flow.
3. Impact on agriculture:
 Changes in temperature and rainfall patterns as well as significantly
affect agricultural production.
 Climate change increases physiological stress and fodder quality
and availability.
 Lack of food production and availability,
 Un stability of food supplies,
 Lack of access to food (food price increases and declining rates of
income growth).
4. Impact on ecosystem:
 Climate change affects the success of species, population, and
community adaptation.
 Loss of ecosystem services (provision, regulating, cultural and
support).
 Changes in natural ecosystems, loss of biodiversity, and extinction
of species.
5.Increased costs to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.
 5.5.4 Climate response mechanisms

 Climate change is one of the most complex issues facing us today.

 So even if we stopped emitting all greenhouse gases today, global
warming and climate change will continue as it has natural source of
emission.
 There has to be response mechanism to reduce the impact of extreme
events.
There are three major response mechanisms to climate change
namely:
1. mitigation,
2. adaptation and
3. resilience.
i) Mitigation and its strategies
 Mitigation measures: are those actions that are taken to reduce and
control greenhouse gas emissions changing the climate.
 It implies reducing the flow of heat trapping greenhouse gases into
the atmosphere,
 by reducing sources of these gases or
 Enhancing the “sinks” that accumulate and store these gases (such as
the oceans, forests and soil).
 The goal of mitigations is to avoid significant human interference with the
climate system.
 Mitigation measures that can be taken to avoid the increase of
pollutant emissions.
o Practice energy efficiency
o Increase the use of renewable energy such as solar
o Efficient means of transport implementation: electric public transport,
bicycle, shared cars.
ii) Adaptation and its strategies
 Adaptation is simply defined as adapting to life in a changing climate.
It involves adjusting to actual or expected future climate.
 The goal is to reduce our vulnerability to the harmful effects of climate
change such as extreme weather events or food insecurity.
 Some of the major adaptation strategies include:
1. building flood defenses,
2. plan for heat waves and higher temperatures,
3. installing water-permeable pavements to better deal with floods and
storm water
4. Improve water storage and uses are some of measures taken by cities and
towns.
5. landscape restoration and reforestation,
6. flexible and diverse cultivation to be prepared for natural catastrophes
7. Preventive and precautionary measures (evacuation plans, health issues
iii). Resilience
 Is generally defined as the capacity of a system to resist or
“bounce back” from a disruption.
 Is the ability to withstand an external disturbance, and the ability
to change and sustain this change in the face of an external
disturbance, i.e. going beyond survival.
 It is the ability to prepare for, recover from, and adapt to the
impacts of climate change
 Climate resilience focuses on actions taken to maintain existing
systems and structures
 Resilience - a system can cope with without changing its internal
structure and losing its functioning capacity
The differences among the three terms are
a) Adaptation- what to do to lower vulnerability to climate change.
e.g. increasing household water storage capacity.
 It is as actions to limit the negative consequences of climate change
 Climate change adaptation has a focus on actions to lessen the
impact of global warming on human and natural systems.
b. Mitigation- focuses on addressing the root problem cause of global
warming,
i.e. decreasing the amount of green house gases in the atmosphere.
a) Resilience- can be looked at ‘how to’ design and deliver the
adaptation to bring forward development value in the context of
systems, community and or society.
 e.g. establishing a community managed emergency water storage
facility.