After 3 years of drought, Greater Horn of Africa to get early, heavy rains, courtesy El Nino

  • September 4, 2023
  • Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
  • Category: DPN Topics
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After 3 years of drought, Greater Horn of Africa to get early, heavy rains, courtesy El Nino

Subject: Science and Technology

Section: Awareness in IT and computer

Context:

  • The Greater Horn of Africa is likely to get heavy rains from October-December 2023, said the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) Climate Prediction and Applications Centre (ICPAC) in its forecast.

Details:

  • Southern Ethiopia, eastern Kenya and southern Somalia are very likely to experience wetter-than-usual rainfall.
  • The drier-than-usual conditions have been forecast for the isolated areas of southwestern Uganda and southwestern South Sudan.
  • Below-average rainfall has been forecast until end of the season for Eritrea, central and northern Ethiopia, Djibouti, Western Kenya, significant areas of South Sudan and Sudan, and Northern Uganda.

Cause of heavy rain:

  • Strong el-nino is developing over the Indian ocean.
  • The Indian Ocean Dipole is also developing over the Indian Ocean and may strengthen the El Nino impacts.

Impact of heavy rainfall:

  • It may contribute to flood situations.
  • Agriculture sector may benefit from heavy rain.
  • Desert locusts attack may increase.

About ICPAC:

  • The forecast was released at the 65th Greater Horn of Africa Climate Outlook Forum (GHACOF65) held by ICPAC in collaboration with the region’s National Meteorological and Hydrological Services.
  • ICPAC, the climate centre accredited by the World Meteorological Organization, provides climate services to 11 East African countries.
  • Its service aims at creating resilience in a region deeply affected by climate change and extreme weather.
  • Office: Ngong, Kenya.

Greater Horn of Africa region:

  • The Greater Horn of Africa region includes Burundi, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda.

Cartesian coordinates: a means to find your way

Cartesian coordinates system:

  • A coordinate system is a set of numbers that allows you to specify the location of a point in some space.
  • The Cartesian coordinates is one such system, which uses a set of three numbers to specify the distance of a point from three perpendicular planes.
  • In general, this system uses N numbers if there are N perpendicular planes, including in higher dimensions.
  • The French philosopherand mathematician René Descartes created this system in the 17th century.
  • His invention bridged the gap between algebra and geometry and created analytic geometry.

How does it locate a point?

  • Cartesian coordinates use a pair of numbers – one on the x-axis, one on the y-axis – that can be used to locate a specific point on the plane.
  • In three dimensions, the point’s location can be fixed by adding one more number, e.g. the floor of the building you are on.
  • The coordinates have an array of applications in astronomy, engineering, and most other disciplines that involve geometry, including representing spatial data in computer graphics and computer-aided geometric design.

Application:

  • The coordinates also have an array of applications in astronomy, engineering, and most other disciplines that involve geometry, including representing spatial data in computer graphics and computer-aided geometric design.
After 3 years of drought Science and tech