Droughts in Chad Essay
Droughts in Chad
In our world, we are faced with many severe phenomenons. In the continent of Africa, droughts are
one of the many phenomenons that have been acknowledged. An African country like, Chad, located
east of Niger and southwest of Egypt, is a old victim of this phenomenon The Sahel regions,
consisting of countries like Chad, Mauritania, Mali, etc..., face droughts regularly. Half of the
country is in the Saharan Desert, while the other half, in the Sahel region. Its regular scarcity of
rainfall leads to droughts. According to Hydrological Sciences Journal, "West African Sahel has
experienced a significant drought which, according to some authors, corresponds to a discontinuity
(abrupt change) in the rainfall series"...show more content...
Figure 1 (NOAA/CPC RFE Climatology Method) demonstrates the average percent of the 2010
rainy season of the Sahelian region. The country, circled in red, Chad, an abnormality of average
rainfall, where more than 80% of the region receives 110%–140% of average rainfall, and the rest
(northern part) receives below 70% of average rainfall. A common effect of droughts is the mass
extinction of fish and drastic size change in its nearby lake, Lake Chad. Lake Chad is very shallow,
only about 5 to 8m deep, at that time, its surface area were approximately 25,000 square kilometers.
... from 1969 to 1972–73 having been a catastrophic years from a hydrological point of view, the
surface of the lake was reduced from about 22,000 square kilometers to 7,000 square kilometers,
thus drying up its northern part the thrust of the flow was not strong enough ... ("FISH
STATISTICS IN THE LAKE CHAD BASIN DURING THE DROUGHT (1969 –1976)" 203).
The drought that took place from 1969 to 1973 had a noticeable impact on Lake Chad, sinking to
nearly three times less than its original size. The northern part of the lake had an increase of caught
fish from 8,790 t to 26,862 t; this is due to the decrease of the water level. The southern part of the
lake also, greatly benefit from the drought, from 3,856 t to 10,235 t. During this period, the cast that
benefitted the most were the fishermen. They caught more fish
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