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What would Africa be like if it was moved 30 degrees south latitude so the bottom of Africa around Cape Town merged with Antarctica and there was no sea in between. How would that change the climate of Africa and the world at large? How far north would the Antarctic glaciers push north into Africa?
Northern coast of Africa would have a hardcore tropical climate...
I think the Sahara would be eliminated as it would be more in an "equatorial" in latitude and in the ITCZ. I think Central Africa would have a pretty decent continental climate with lots of severe storms because of the clashing air masses (between tropical North Africa and cold, subarctic/arctic Southern Africa). South Africa would be extremely cold. Probably more than 50 or 60 C colder than now if it merged with Antarctica. The cold snaps would be ridiculous in South Africa with those -70 or -80 C air masses originating from interior Antarctica (though they'd probably moderate to -50 C or -60 C when they reach South Africa).
I wonder if Antarctic cold air masses would be so potent that they'd make it all the way to the North Coast and bring freezing temperatures and some snowfall to the Equatorial regions
I wonder if Antarctic cold air masses would be so potent that they'd make it all the way to the North Coast and bring freezing temperatures and some snowfall to the Equatorial regions
I don't think it would bring freezing temperatures and snow, but perhaps temperatures of 10-15 C or so. It's pretty hard for freezing temperatures and snow to penetrate deep within the tropics, regardless of how potent it is.....that's just my hypothesis though. I could be wrong.
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Originally Posted by alex985
I don't think it would bring freezing temperatures and snow, but perhaps temperatures of 10-15 C or so. It's pretty hard for freezing temperatures and snow to penetrate deep within the tropics, regardless of how potent it is.....that's just my hypothesis though. I could be wrong.
Maritime air mass sometimes reach Amazon and bring temperatures of 10C to places near equator,imagine with Continental...
More interestingly, what would happen to the climate of Antarctica if the Antarctic Current broke down as in such case? This scenario is so extreme that guessing what the climate would be like all over the planet is almost impossible without some good computer models, but I tend to think we would see less glaciated areas overall, with a very cold and continental Southern Africa and a much warmer Eastern Antarctica...
Edit: The problem with cold air masses in the tropics in this scenario is that Africa has a very complex geography that plays against it. Plus, Western Africa would be very dry and strongly affected by the Atlantic Anticyclone. The best region to see very cold spells compared to latitude would the Horn of Africa, Eastern Ethiopia. Maybe ocassional snowfall in the coast of Eritrea.
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(though they'd probably moderate to -50 C or -60 C when they reach South Africa).
