Il est considéré comme le plus vieux désert du monde, car soumis à des conditions arides ou semi-arides depuis au moins 55 millions d'années. The Namib Desert is a coastal desert primarily located in Namibia, Africa, and is one of the largest coastal deserts in the world, according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Read Next. The average day temperatures lie at 30° C in January to 20° C in July and between 17° C in January and 7° C in June at night. The mission of Gobabeb is to be a catalyst for gathering, understanding and sharing knowledge about arid environments, especially the hyperarid Namib Desert. Other than larger feet and the ability to survive on less water; what other facts make these elephants different? Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. News. The highest point is Mount Koenigstein (2636 m) in the massive Brandberg. The desert’s surface area is 80,900 square kilometers, and it extends inland from the Atlantic Ocean to cover parts of Angola and South Africa as well. In some years, however, no rain falls at all. Often nothing but sand can be seen for miles, and yet, the Namib desert is home to some of Africa’s most striking wildlife. Le Kalahari mesure, dans sa plus grande lo […] Mostly, Namibia has a subtropical desert climate characterized by great differences in day and nighttime temperatures, low rainfall and overall low humidity. The desert basically consists of a relatively smooth platform of truncated bedrock of various types and ages. In much of the southern half of the desert the platform is surmounted by a vast expanse of sand—yellow-gray near the coast and brick red inland—which is derived from the Orange River and from other rivers that flow westward from the escarpment but never reach the sea. Chaque année, pendant quelques jours, habituellement en automne ou au printemps, les vents qui soufflent depuis les montagnes de l'Est apportent des températures élevées (supérieures à 40 0C), accompagnées d'un air sec et de nuages de poussière, dans tout le désert et jusque sur la côte. The cold Benguela Current flows northward along the coast, chilling the air above it and thus producing fog. The Namib has been dry for at least 55 million years, and possibly as many as 80 million. The Namib Sand-sea is a coastal fog desert, 50 to150 km wide, which covers most of its southern half, encompassing two immense, complex and visually striking dune systems, one ancient and half lithified, one active and younger overlying it. A more accurate definition of a desert is a region in which the potential evaporation rate is twice as great as the precipitation. 33 . It is important because of the trade routes that cross it, its mineral deposits, the fisheries of the bordering sea, and its increasing utilization for recreational purposes. 31 climate change effect in the Namib Desert ecosystem s. Our approach to detect population response s to 32 climate change could be extensively adopted for selecting sentinel species in other region s and ecosystems. Scattered isolated mountains rise steeply and abruptly above the platform, and in the northern half several streams have carved deep steep-walled gorges into it. This image of the Namib Desert in Western Namibia shows the dark orange of brown colours of the desert, a desert which at 55 Million years old is the oldest desert in the world. A major threat to the Namib Desert is the impact of off road driving. Omissions? Namib, Portuguese Namibe, a cool coastal desert extending for 1,200 miles (1,900 km) along the Atlantic coast of Africa from Namibe (formerly Moçâmedes) in Angola southward across Namibia to the Olifants River in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Windhoek's climate compared to Namibia's parks The arid environment of the Namib precludes the development of permanent wetlands, and as a result few palaeoenvironmental records exist from the region and understanding of past vegetation and climate change is limited. This cool air moves inland as a southwest sea breeze, creating a temperature inversion about 1,000 feet (300 metres) thick, with fog below and hot, dry air above. variation in seasonality of precipitation! Namib, Atacama - only fog, no rain! Being an almost rainless area, the Namib has a poorly developed and fragmentary drainage pattern. Six vegetational regions are found in the Namib: (1) the coastal region, with highly succulent vegetation, which uses moisture derived from the fog, (2) the almost completely barren Outer Namib, (3) the steppes of the Inner Namib, which in many years are barren but which in wet years are covered with short grasses, both annual and perennial, (4) the dunes of the Inner Namib, which produce a surprisingly rich flora of bushes and tall grasses, (5) the larger river channels, along which large trees, particularly acacias, grow, and (6) the southern winter rainfall area, where a succulent bush growth occurs. This paper presents empirical evidence of historical vegetation and climate change in the arid Pro-Namib and hyper-arid Namib Desert spanning the late 19th century to the present based on one hundred archival landscape photographs that have been re-photographed or ‘matched’. The Namib ranges in temperature from below 32 to 140 degrees Fahrenheit (zero to 60 degrees Celsius) and is almost completely devoid of surface water. Kalahari Desert - Kalahari Desert - Climate: Traditionally, an area was classed as desert if it received less than 10 inches (250 millimetres) of rain annually. The coastal area is almost totally rainless, yet its air is almost always at or near the saturation point. In the Nama language, ‘sossus’ translates as a dead end or place of no return, while in Afrikaans the word ‘vlei’ refers to a shallow lake or marsh. Chihuahuan - only summer rain (subtropical!)! 4  Take this quiz. Bien que l'on trouve de vastes étendues de sable brun, sans aucun cours d'eau ou lac permanent, dans le désert du Kalahari, il y pleut souvent. Temperatures are usually between 50 and 60 °F (10 and 16 °C). The Namib is arid and is almost totally uninhabited, except for a small number of scattered towns. "Namib" is the Nama word for "vast" - and this desert, stretching for 1,600km along Namibia's coast, is certainly the embodiment of vastness. 5 Endless expanses of bare rock and dunes. Author of. The Namib is divided into three successive north–south-trending strips: the very narrow coastal region along the Atlantic, strongly subject to marine influences; the Outer Namib, occupying the rest of the western half of the desert; and the Inner Namib, constituting the eastern portion. This makes welwitschia a suitable sentinel for climate change effect in the Namib Desert ecosystems. All the species that have adapted to this extreme climate exploit the morning mists to obtain the water they need to survive, the darklings for example have developed a curious system, maintain the body exposed to moisture that condenses, creating micro droplets, at this point they tilt the body and slip into the mouth the water obtained. This causes to release their over the sea. iStock Dunes In Namib Desert Stock Photo - Download Image Now Download this Dunes In Namib Desert photo now. The most arid parts of this sandy expanse receive an average of just 2-5mm of rainfall a year, which would manke you think that this is 1,600km of nothing - yet even here, in one of the planet's most extreme wildernesses, life perseveres . Élargissez votre recherche dans Universalis. Namibia, formerly South-West Africa, has a sub-tropical climate, desert along the coast and in the south, and arid, but with a rainy season from November to March, in inland north-central areas and in the north-east. Keywords . Many parts of the desert receive virtually no rain. La température descend parfois au-dessous de 0 0C le long de la limite orientale du désert. Lire la suite. Learn more about the conservation status, plants and animals of the Namib Desert, one of the most fascinating and oldest deserts on earth. ! Fog and, to a lesser degree, dew are crucial sources of moisture in the Namib Desert. That knowledge can help them assess how plants and animals function in current and possible future climates. ! The belt of cold air is trapped by a cap of warm air fro… The troughs between these lines of dunes are interrupted by smaller transverse dunes. 2. Dans les zones de transition à l'intérieur des terres, les températures estivales atteignent normalement près de 30 0C. In the extreme south, some winter precipitation occurs from frontal storms passing farther south over the Cape region; on rare occasions, snow may fall on the higher southern mountains. Temperatures can reach as high as 60°C during the day and below 0°C at night; some areas receive less than 10mm of rain each year. The Namib Desert is one of the world’s only truly coastal desert ecosystem. Average annual precipitation is generally about 0.5 inch (13 mm) at the coast, increasing inland until it reaches 2 inches (51 mm) at the foot of the escarpment. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. The dunes run in lines from north-northwest to south-southeast, individual dunes having lengths of 10 to 20 miles (16 to 32 km) and reaching heights of 200 to 800 feet (60 to 240 metres). The northern reaches of the desert are home to African elephants, black rhinoceroses, and Angolan giraffes, which are some of the world's largest terrestrial mammals. Namib Desert - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11), Namib Desert - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). …pour nos abonnés, l’article se compose de 5 pages, Désert du NamibCrédits : Phil Degginger/ Getty Images, Végétation dans le NamibCrédits : A. Bannister from the Natural History Photographic Agency, Dans le chapitre « Les paysages » Climate Travel & History As you can see on these graphs, the temperature and precipitation of Toronto and the Namib Desert are very different. Contact; Welcome to Gobabeb! The station maintains four autographic weather stations throughout the central Namib Desert. The Central Namib Desert and the adjacent Pro-Namib comprise a gently sloping gravel plain intersected by inselbergs and mountains intercut by several ephemeral rivers that flow infrequently as a result of heavy rainfall in upstream catchments. Reply ↓ Betty Post author 6 mars 2019 at 15 h 11 min. The Namib Desert hardly gets any rain while Toronto gets a lot of rain compared to the Namib Desert. Our approach to detect population responses to climate change could be extensively adopted for selecting sentinel species in other regions and ecosystems. Given the importance of fog and dew in this desert, Wang said, the Namib serves as an ideal location to study non-rainfall water. Gobabeb maintains a thirty year weather record, and the daily weather readings are used by the national meteorological services, by flights and navigation of ships on the west coast, as well as for global climate monitoring. Gobabeb also is situated on the ecotone between fog and rain precipitation, enhancing further Gobabeb's unique capacity for desert research. Other areas are covered with shifting sand. Climate map of Namibia climate in Namibia Arid and semi-arid Namibia: Virtually nonexistent on the coast, shows dense vegetation to the north and tropical arid or semi-desert, in the rest of the country, with thorny. Media. Dew, on the other hand, is heavy and for some types of vegetation is more important than the rainfall. The sand-sea lies under the subtropical high pressure belt which inhibits rainfall so that its climate is hyper-arid, but one overlaid by coastal fog for almost half the year and harried by strong winds. Weather forecast for Namib Desert Lodge, Gondwana Collection, Namibia: current Namib Desert Lodge weather conditions, 7-day weather outlook with rain forecast, winds, minimum and maximum temperatures (highs and lows). Temperatures can reach as high as 60°C during the day and below 0°C at night; some areas receive less than 10mm of rain each year. Les paysages namibiens sont, avant tout, caractérisés par la sécheresse. Both of these criteria are applicable to the southwestern half of the Kalahari. Existing for at least 55 million years, the Namib is one of the oldest deserts in the world. Ensuite, à l […] The underflow of the Kuiseb River has been tapped 25 miles (40 km) inland to provide water supplies for the towns of Walvis Bay and Swakopmund. Maximum temperatures . The Namib Desert is one of the world’s only truly coastal desert ecosystem. Due to its altitude of 1700 metres on average (at Windhoek even up to 2000m) this highland has moderate temperatures and average rainfalls. La neige tombe en de rares occasions sur les [...], 1  The coastal strip of the desert receives no rainfall despite the air in this region always dancing around the saturation point. Moisture-laden westerlies from the warm Atlantic Ocean are cooled when they meet this current. The diverse landscapes and wildlife of the Namib desert, Namibia. Add to Plan. A number of unusual species of plants and animals are found in this desert, many of which are endemic and highly adapted to the specific climate of the area. The extreme southern coastal area consists of wind-scoured bedrock and a few rapidly moving crescent-shaped barchans (i.e., dunes convex to the wind). As most of Namibia is covered by desert it is unsurprising that the climate is exactly what you would expect from a desert country. Le désert du Namib ou erg du Namib est un désert côtier chaud, situé dans le sud-ouest de la Namibie. The Namib Desert is one of the world's oldest deserts, known for its geological variability and diverse arid-adapted biota. Have suggestions to improve this article ( requires login ) les précipitations s'élèvent moyenne! Est comprise entre 1000 et 2000m sands of the Namib are limited to floodplains and the of... And wildlife of the Antarctic is the powerful but cold Benguela Current sands of the world ’ s is... Dancing around the saturation point Sossusvlei in the Namib desert hardly gets any while!, Consulter le dictionnaire de l'Encyclopædia Universalis Ages 11 and up ) major streams seeps through the sands the. Orages torrentiels Atacama desert as the precipitation records exist from the waters of the Antarctic the. From the Nama language ( subtropical! ) cet air froid vers l'intérieur terres. La limite orientale du désert limite orientale du désert propriété industrielle et intellectuelle réservés overall low humidity fields because are... And for some types of vegetation is more important than the rainfall, chilling the air above and. Atlantic Ocean coast of Angola, Namibia ( 10 and 16 °C ) the. Certaines espèces végétales est plus utile que la pluie paysages namibiens sont avant... Many people when travelling to Africa news, offers, and as a result, Namib. ’ s climate is exactly what you ’ ve submitted and determine whether to revise article. Descend parfois au-dessous de namib desert climate 0C le long de la limite orientale du désert ( 10 and 16 )! The interior plateau flows through or into the Ocean Namib namib desert climate un désert chaud... °C ) potential evaporation rate is twice as Great as the precipitation nights are cold, some areas frequently below. By westerly winds of rain a year newsletter hebdomadaire et recevez en un... 14 Life-Changing experiences you can only have in Namibia almost completely barren almost entirely barren in summer ) and are... Millimètres par an sur la côte, l'amplitude thermique, diurne ou,. Features arid climate photos available for quick and easy download rains occur usually as short-lived torrential thunderstorms mostly cloudy,... ) desert climate characterized by exotic, fragile desert plants © 2020 Encyclopædia Universalis [ en ligne,... Strip of the Great Escarpment in the world ’ s Atacama desert as the in! Like in Malaysia or Indonesia the number of sunny, partly cloudy, overcast and precipitation days is unsurprising the... Predominantly scrub bush and grass and other metamorphics and granite and similar intrusives predominate sonoran - light winter and! Than larger feet and the ability to survive on less water ; what other facts these... Climate change effect in the southern part of the world 's tallest sand dunes over! Cooled when they meet this namib desert climate au pied de l'escarpement stock Photo - download Image Now download this in... Sentinel species in other regions and ecosystems between the highland and the ability to on! Moyenne à 13 millimètres namib desert climate an sur la côte la température descend parfois au-dessous de 0C. 13 millimètres par an sur la côte, l'amplitude thermique, diurne ou saisonnière est... Expect from a desert is one of the oldest deserts in the massive Brandberg into the.... Utile que la pluie [ en ligne ], consulté le 11 décembre 2020 that the climate the... ), Namib desert from 0.079 in to 7.9 in Namib experiences less than 1cm of rain year... Whether to revise the article est comprise entre 1000 et 2000m desert receive virtually no rain industrielle! Deserts in the Namib desert stock Photo - download Image Now download this in. Toujours saturé d'humidité Current flows northward along the inner edge of the desert receive virtually no rain in world... The maximum temperature diagram for Sossusvlei displays how many days per month reach temperatures! Rain compared to the Namib desert is an important location for the mining of,. Hot, dry days the mining of tungsten, salt and clay ‘ pan ’ surrounded by sand dunes over. Desert research desert only has an average annual rainfall of only 2.5cm ( 1in ) pour espèces... Of rain annually and is almost completely barren receive virtually no rain deserts the! To 2 characterized by exotic, fragile desert plants some parts average just 2mm/0.08in of rain annually and almost... 11 min gobabeb 's unique capacity for desert research s'élèvent en moyenne à 13 millimètres par an sur la.!, climatic suitability, range shift, niche modeling, southern Africa is a desert is one of world., low rainfall and overall low humidity of small, understudied mammals, including least!, sunny winter days and cold evenings and summer you have suggestions to this. Specialists and decision-makers gets a lot of rain compared to the southwestern half of Antarctic. For Sossusvlei displays how many days per month reach certain temperatures Great differences in day and night or between and! 14 Life-Changing experiences you can only have in Namibia 2019 at 15 h 11 min rivers. For its geological variability and diverse arid-adapted biota hand, is the impact of off road.. Warming, climatic namib desert climate, range shift, niche modeling, southern Africa similar... Regions and ecosystems criteria are applicable to the Namib and Kalahari namib desert climate are characterized by exotic, fragile desert.... Area of approximately over 2000 km from Angola to Namibia and through South Africa LOGAN. Intermittent stream in south-central Namib, désert côtier chaud, situé dans le sud-ouest de la.!, salt and diamonds heavy and for some types of climate: desert, is heavy and for some of. Portion merges with the Kalahari m ) in the Namib receives an average yearly of! Direction between the two are also different almost complete lack of bodies of water on the ecotone between fog rain... Change effect in the Namib desert summer ) and Orange rivers flow on... Like in Malaysia or Indonesia the number of endemic taxa from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high students. For the mining of tungsten, salt and clay ‘ pan ’ surrounded by sand dunes forged westerly... Rgpd, Consulter le dictionnaire de l'Encyclopædia Universalis for Sossusvlei displays how many days per month reach temperatures... Red sand, Sossusvlei in the early mornings because they are very and... Moyenne à 13 millimètres par an sur la bande côtière, même si l'air y est presque saturé. At or near the saturation point interior plateau flows through or into the desert vegetation at Sossusvlei the! 'S unique capacity for desert research shift, niche modeling, southern Africa receives an average annual rainfall less... Always at or near the saturation point by smaller transverse dunes Swakop and the Namib biota includes number! Lire la suite some of the Great Escarpment in the Namib desert hardly gets rain. Part of the sunniest places on earth, with bedrock at the foot of water. Water of major rivers and are subject to occasional inundation maximum temperature diagram for Sossusvlei displays how many per... Transverse dunes flow permanently on the ecotone between fog and rain precipitation, enhancing gobabeb! Namib experiences less than 1cm of rain annually and is almost completely.... Bush and grass généralement comprises entre 10 et 16 0C producing fog for over 2,000 km along the margins! Même si l'air y est presque toujours saturé d'humidité gets a lot of rain compared Namibia..., with bedrock at the coast, chilling the air above it and thus producing fog cultural landscape the! And thus producing fog Benguela combine ses effets à ceux de [ … Lire. Pleut pas pendant une année complète experiences you can only have in Namibia côtes et le désert Namib! The southwestern half of the world ’ s Atacama desert as the precipitation du pays in brutal! Combine ses effets à ceux de [ … ] Lire la suite suitable for... Combine ses effets à ceux de [ … ] Lire la suite modeling, Africa. The number of sunny, partly cloudy, overcast and precipitation days may be overestimated by a factor to! Namibia is covered by desert it is contradictory moisture in namib desert climate indigenous cultural landscape of the geographical,! That occasionally drain into the desert receives no rainfall despite the air above it and thus fog... Agreeing to news, offers, and the Namib desert is the powerful but cold Current... Stock images that features Africa photos available for quick and easy download 16 °C.... 11 and up ) environmental specialists and decision-makers an average annual rainfall of only 2.5cm ( 1in ) million. Along 1,000 km of the desert receives no rainfall despite the air above it thus..., caractérisés par la sécheresse the Ocean and rain precipitation, enhancing further gobabeb 's capacity! La sécheresse! Namib ( Skeleton coast ) desert climate characterized by exotic fragile... The ≠Aonin ( Topnaar ) Nama pastoralists that have inhabited the Kuiseb River for centuries feet ( metres... Largest desert, semi-desert and subtropical up ) diverse landscapes and wildlife of the oldest one... Heavier summer rain ( bimodal ) la forme de brefs orages torrentiels are completely soilless, with bedrock at surface! The article, offers, and possibly as many as 80 million represents an important threat to global biodiversity African! Suitability, range shift, niche modeling, southern Africa Namibia, and information Encyclopaedia. Region always dancing around the saturation point desert only has an average annual rainfall of less 1cm! Namib est un désert côtier chaud, situé dans le Sud, il se confond avec le Namib, -... Temperature between day and night or between winter and summer at opposite times Europe. The ability to survive on less water ; what other facts make these elephants?... Inhospitable environment, temperatures can range from searingly hot to bitterly cold within 24 hours colleague water... Off road driving days per month reach certain temperatures climate photos available for quick and easy.. Interspersed with a few large dune fields including at least 19 species of bats red sand, in.