Climate Change Impacts in Tanzania (Africa)

 1. For this blog post I will be writing about the Climate Change Impacts in Tanzania which is located in Africa. Climate change can have a great impact on country. For example In my country's region Climate changes that it faces are heavy Precipitation and or Drought. With Heavy Precipitation a potential risk one can consider is flooding. Humans in Africa should be able to manage the flooding. Drought is a climate change that can also affect not only Humans but the wildlife. Droughts can affect Humans physically, whether or not they can manage is if they can ration whatever resources of water they can find. A drought can also affect the agriculture. In places all over the world a huge of food resources come from what they grow. With a drought the amount of food you can produce with agriculture can greatly diminish. With Starvation this can affect people in Africa physically and biologically.

2. An interesting thing about about the region of Africa is that it has variability in its climate zones. Being divided into four Major Sub regions makes for even more variety. For Example the Sahara region of Africa can only experience rainfall during one season. Having dry spells in West Africa has affects on its vegetation and surface properties. This can cause changes  to that sub regions atmospheric heat and as well as its moisture cycles. The variability of southern Africa is due to the oceans that its adjacent to. But overall based on what I read, all of Africa will continue to warm in future despite the climate variability it has.

3. Africa in the 21st century is continuing to get warmer and warmer. An increase in temperature in the region of Africa also affects its ecosystem especially in the ocean. With a temperatures getting warmer it will also change the amount of water availability in Africa. People will need to decide on what they use water for such as agriculture, or systems that require water to be engineered. Another thing to take away from this is that Africa's agriculture will become more vulnerable with limited water resources available. With limited agriculture the amount of food Africa will change as well. The animals that depend on agriculture for food will start to die off. Health would be another thing that would be affected in Africa with an increase in temperature, this can range from starvation, dehydration etc. The economy and businesses need to consider what a change in the climate can do to them. Overall it seems that Africa will experience multiple problems in the future at once changes in the environment, depletion of resources, mortality rates.

4. Based on the research that I was doing on Tanzania's Region the most interesting issue that caught my attention is the vulnerability of Africa's agriculture. Africa's food production system is one of the worlds most vulnerable due to how heavily it relies on rainfall. With drought and flooding happening,  Livestock and crops. Changes in Africa's agriculture will affect the entire continent. Food security is something that Africa might not have in the future. The reason I chose this topic is because it people and their entire livelihood. Just Imagining  what Africa might go through in the near future makes me appreciate the agriculture here Hawaii even more.Just Imagining if Hawaii lost a chunk of its agriculture scares me. What if we were next to face starvation?

Severe Weather in Tanzania

      In this blog I will be talking about the severe weather that takes place in Tanzania. For starters I'll talk about Tornadoes. The formation of thunderstorms form due to a supercell thunder storm. In order for a supercell thunderstorm to form in needs to be in the presence of unstable air, forced to rise by the topography of the land, fronts, and Vertical wind sheer for the formation of the vortex tubes to form the rotating mesocyclone. In the United States tornadoes are move towards the northeast. This is the dominant direction because of the southerly winds as well as the mid-latitude westerlies.

The closest thing I could find similar to a Tornado is a Sand Tornado and a video on Vimeo of a baby tornado. Other than that I can't find any information stating that Tornadoes do not occur in Tanzania.
http://vimeo.com/98710323
http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/blogs/love-in-a-hot-climate/7897136/Tanzania-9-Things-They-Don-t-Tell-You-In-Guidebooks

The Average number of Tornadoes recorded in the US pe
r year is over 1,000 per year
http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/climate-information/extreme-events/us-tornado-climatology

   Based on this map it can be seen that Tornadoes are not common in Africa especially where Tanzania is located. Tanzania lies to North of the Hotspot zone on Africa. The increase of Tornadoes over the past 30 years could be due to various reasons. Change in land topography and or global warming could be two possibilities.
   
     Three main requirements for a tornado to form is Warm ocean Temp of 80 degrees Fahrenheit, Deep warm ocean layer that is 200m in depth, and Coriolis between 5 degrees N, S. Based on these requirements Tanzania does not meet these requirements. However if a Hurricane were to hit Tanzania it would be the south eastern part of it. In the Atlantic and East Pacific Hurricanes don't have a different name like other regions do. In the Indian ocean Near Australia are called Cyclones. Off the coast of China and Indonesia Hurricanes are called Typhoons.

  In the United States the general path that a hurricane follows a path towards the Northwest form Southeast due to the trade winds. This is the dominant path because the trade winds from the east  move it to the North and West. Hurricanes do not occur in Tanzania. Average Hurricanes in Tanzania are Zero. The Average Hurricanes in the US are 6.2 hurricanes per year  

Daily Weather in Tanzania

    In this blog post I will be covering information about the daily weather in Dodoma. The capital city of my country Tanzania is Dodoma. The first this I will be covering is the 3 day forecast of my capital city. The three days I'll be covering are Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. On Wednesday the forecasted  high is 91 degrees Fahrenheit and the forecasted low is 64 degrees Fahrenheit with a 0 percent chance of any precipitation On Thursday we see no change in the forecasted low and high which still remain at 91 and 64 degrees Fahrenheit also with the same 0 percent chance of precipitation. The same goes for Friday in my 3 day weather forecast, the same Forecasted high and low of 91 degrees and 64 degrees Fahrenheit and 0 percent chance of precipitation. Over a 3 day period the average pressure for Dodoma is 29.96. During this three day period the pressure stayed the same. Over the 3 day period the average wind speeds are 11.3 mph E. During this three day period the wind speeds stayed the same.

Based on the map above we can see that there are no clouds visible over Dodoma. We can see however that around Tanzania there are cold clouds to the North and South West. Based on the day I started this blog post there are no signs of Precipitation over Dodoma or the rest of Tanzania. When zooming in  on the map of Tanzania the closest body of water near Dodoma is lake Hombolo. Upon further examination there are signs of light vegetation in the city. Other than that there isn't much to look at in the city of Dodoma.

Based on the zoomed in map of Eastern Africa We can see there are two 1012 mb and 1016 mb isobars. Based the map above we can see that there are no signs of a significant low or high pressures. Also based on this map there are no signs of any type of fronts.

The isobar pressures that are observed are 1008 mb, 1012 mb, 1016 mb, 1020 mb and 1024 mb. There are two high pressures observed in this map to the south east and south west off of the coast of southern Africa. There is also one Low pressure on the north west corner of Africa. There are two types of fronts located on this map or three if you can make out the one behind the "Current Surface" label. The first type of front is the stationary front that can be found to the south east and south of Africa. The next type of front is a cold front on the north west corner of Africa.

Global and Local Winds in Tanzania

    In this blog post I will be talking about the Global and Local Winds in Tanzania. The latitude and Longitude of Tanzania is 6 degrees 00' S and 35 degrees 00' East. Since Tanzania is on the Continent of Africa it's part of the Southern Hemisphere. Out of the three atmospheric cell's Tanzania resides in Hadley Cell due to being located south east of the equator. The Wind Belt that Tanzania resides in is the Tropical Easterlies also known as Trade Winds. In Tanzania the prevailing wind directions vary depending on what month it is. For example during months of November to March the prevailing wind direction blows towards the North East and in the months of April to October the prevailing wind direction blows towards the South East. All in all The prevailing wind Directions of Tanzania are the NE and SE Trade Winds. Due to Tanzania being 6 degrees 00' S of the equator it is located near the Equatorial Low which is a low pressure belt. Also because Tanzania is 6 degrees 00'S of the Equator it is also located in a special area where the North and South trade winds meet called the Doldrums.

    Generally the type of weather Tanzania can experience Varies because of its Latitude and Longitude. Depending on the location in the country the type of climate one can expect can vary. For example in the coastal area of Tanzania a tropical climate is noticeable but it can get very hot and Humid. Being near Equatorial Low Tanzania experiences Hot Air and lots precipitation. This explains why Tanzania has its Dry and Wet months.
    Tanzania has only two mountains which are Mt. Kilimanjaro and Mt. Meru. Five type of breezes or winds associated with mountains are Mountain Breezes, Valley Breezes, Chinook, Katabanic, and Foehn Winds. Mt. Kilimanjaro experiences a winds called Serengeti Winds which carried moisture to the top helping replenish its glaciers. However due to the deforestation of Mt Kilimanjaro the possibility of Foehn can be seen in the future due to the trade staying hot. Tanzania's coastline is located near its formal capital, Dar es Salaam. Two breezes that are associated with coastlines are Land and Sea breezes. Tanzania experiences both Land and Sea breezes but only to due the daily wind changes and the variation of the seasons.
 

Typical Weather and Tourism in Tanzania

    In this blog post I will be covering the what Weather and Tourism is like in Tanzania. The first thing I will be covering is the Winter solstice in Tanzania. Since Tanzania is located in Africa which is in the southern hemisphere, the day the winter solstice starts  on June 21. While the Northern hemisphere has there summer the southern has its winter. During the month of June the Maximum Temperature is about 21 degrees Celsius/70 Fahrenheit. The minimum temperature in Tanzania is 9 degrees Celsius/48 degrees Fahrenheit. During the winter solstice in Tanzania the most likely precipitation that will occur is Rain which is a rare occurrence during this month. The only chance of seeing snow in Tanzania is if you were on one of the two mountains located there.
   The summer solstice for Tanzania begins on December 21. In contrast this is when countries located in the Northern hemisphere begins its winter solstice. During the month of December the Maximum temperature in Tanzania reaches 27 degrees Celsius/81 degrees Fahrenheit.  As for the minimum temperature during December its gets as low as 10 degrees Celsius/50 degrees Fahrenheit. During the month of December Tanzania experiences a period of short rains. These rains unpredictable and can vary depending on which part of Tanzania it is. During the summer solstice it the most likely precipitation that will occur is Rain which is fairly common during this time.
  In Tanzania the start of the spring equinox is during the month of September on the 23rd. During the spring equinox the maximum temperature in Tanzania reaches 24 degrees Celsius/ 75 degrees Fahrenheit. As for the minimum temperature it can reach as low as 8 degrees Celsius/46 degrees Fahrenheit. Just like the winter solstice it is during the period where Tanzania is most dry. The likelihood of seeing any type of precipitation is highly unlikely. If you were to see any form of precipitation during this time it would be rainfall.
   The start of the autumnal equinox or "fall equinox" begins in the month of March on the 20th. During the fall equinox the maximum temperatures of Tanzania reach to about 27 degrees Celsius/81 degrees Fahrenheit. Also during this time the temperatures can get as low as 12 degrees Celsius/54 degrees Fahrenheit. During the Fall Equinox Tanzania is in the period of where it has long rains. March is one of the months where it is most wet here. When it rains it will rain real hard. Due to the amount of heavy rain during this time, humidity will be at an all time high.
   If you were a tourist interested in visiting Tanzania the best time to go can be quite tricky. Although Tanzania has a nice Tropical climate the country can have have various regional climate differences. Depending on whether you enjoy rainfall or not also makes this choice a difficult decision to make. I personally like rainy weather but not too much of it. I personally would recommend going during the summer solstice and or fall equinox where plant and wild life is at its best. One of the first activities that I could recommend on the top of my head would be sightseeing. Living in Hawaii especially if you were born and raised here would be an incredible opportunity to see various plant and wild life that you don't see everyday. I'm pretty sure that one would have a better story to tell of the animals they saw in Africa than seeing the ones at the local zoo. Another activity I would recommend would be hot air ballooning to see the incredible view of the safari, but if you aren't a big fan of heights there is an option of Night drives at the national parks in Tanzania where you get to witness the behavior of wildlife at night that you don't get to see during the day. Below is what the safari would look like during the wet seasons from the perspective of being on a hot balloon :)





 During the summer solstice the wet season isn't too bad however if you were to visit during the fall equinox the the potential weather is basically heavy rainfall. This could make activities like deep sea diving and mountain climbing rather dangerous.
               "Come Visit Tanzania's Safari where Plant and Wildlife is breathtaking :)"

Temperature Controls in the City of Dodoma in Tanzania

 In  this post I  will be covering the Temperature Control for the Capital city of Tanzania. The capital city of my country is called Dodoma. Dodoma has a latitude if -6.1833333 and longitude of 35.75. In Dodoma the Warmest month of the year is in November with an average monthly temperature of 74F. Dodoma's coldest month of the year is in July with an average monthly temperature of 65F. Based on the information I've found the annual Average temperature of Dodoma is 74F. 

  One temperature control that has an impact on the city of Dodoma is Differential Heating of Land and Water. Due to the location of Dodoma on a map, It's in an area where hot spots occur. Warm         ocean currents that are moving to the poles warms the air around Africa where Dodoma is located.

One temperature control that does not have an impact on my city is Altitude. The reason why altitude is not a factor on the impact of temperature in Dodoma is because it doesn't have have a high elevation. 

     For Tanzania the future predictions of temperature can vary. This due to the regional differences of my country. For example there are certain areas where the height is high enough for the formation glaciers. As for Dodoma, agriculture has been thriving since it's the center of agricultural trade for Tanzania. Due to this not much temperature change can be seen in the future.

Sources: http://www.climate-zone.com/climate/tanzania/fahrenheit/dodoma.htm