From: Biniam Tekle (biniamt@dehai.org)
Date: Wed Aug 06 2008 - 09:56:05 EDT
African drought linked with Indian Ocean
Published: Aug. 5, 2008 at 3:01 PM
WASHINGTON, Aug. 5 (UPI) -- A study co-funded by the National Aeronautics
and Space Administration has linked less eastern and southern African
rainfall with a warming Indian Ocean.
NASA said rainfall in eastern Africa during the rainy season from March
through May has declined about 15 percent since the 1980s. Scientists say
that's due to irregularities, brought about by rising Indian Ocean
temperatures, in the movement of moisture between the ocean and land.
"The last 10 to 15 years have seen particularly dangerous declines in
rainfall in sensitive ecosystems in East Africa, such as Somalia and eastern
Ethiopia," said NASA's Molly Brown, a co-author of the study. "We wanted to
know if the trend would continue or if it would start getting wetter."
The scientists discovered declines in rainfall across Ethiopia, Kenya,
Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi and Zimbabwe were linked with increases in rainfall
over the ocean.
Lead author Chris Funk of the University of California-Santa Barbara said
the movement of moisture onshore was disrupted by increased rainfall over
the ocean.
"We can be quite certain that the decline in rainfall has been substantial
and will continue to be," Funk said. "This 15-percent decrease every 20-25
years is likely to continue."
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