Scientists have found that Sahara has significantly increased in size over the past 100 years - in part because of global warming, in part because of a change in the natural climatic cycle.

Climatologists from the University of Maryland analyzed the data on precipitation in this region from 1920 to 2013. It turned out that the desert grew by 16% and "ate" the surrounding neighborhoods.

"Deserts are usually formed in the subtropics due to the so-called Hadley cell - a component of global terrestrial circulation, characteristic of tropical latitudes. Air flows rise at the equator and descend in the subtropics, affecting the formation of arid places. Climate change is likely to extend the range of the Hadley cell, forcing the desert to grow to the north, "says the author of the study, Professor Nigam.

However, the scientist believes that the descent to the south is caused by other natural mechanisms - such as the AMO cycle, that is, the natural climate changes in the Atlantic every 50-70 years.

Thus, the expansion of Sahara to the south and to the north is the result of a combination of human influence and natural causes. At the same time, the influence of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is the third part of the changes.

The southern edge of the Sahara limits the Sahel - the tropical African savannah. However, the data show that it gives way to the desert, affecting fragile ecosystems in the region and destructively affecting local communities that depend on agriculture. Lake Chad, which is located on the border of climatic regions, runs low.

Scientists suggest that similar processes occur with other arid places of the planet. This is the first study analyzing the movement of the desert in a century.

Source: Around the world. Ukraine.