GEOG 1700 Lecture 10: Africa
Document Summary
Large sahara and kalahari deserts tend to dominate perceptions. Actually variety of tropical climates: rainforest to desert. Tropical climates around equator because of insolation: incoming solar radiation. Latitude has large influence on climate regions, but not the only one. Areas closest to equator receive most insolation. Insolation: huge impact on pressure systems and wind movements. Rift valley system: major chain of mountains and valleys from red sea to central mozambique. Virtually all sub saharan africa lies between tropic of cancer and tropic of capricorn. Places with most insolation absorb most radiation from sun. Leads to low-pressure system drawing air from atlantic ocean landmass of africa. Intertropical convergence zone (itcz): low pressure belt around equator. June: moves north toward tropic of cancer and area north of equator receives rainfall. December: movies south toward tropic of capricorn and area south of equator receives rainfall. Subsolar point: latitude directly hit by sun"s rays at 90 degree angle.
