Africa: Murchison Falls National Park, Uganda

GROUP 8: UGANDA BE KIDDING ME

Hello and welcome to Murchison Falls National Park

Introduction:

Found at 2.15 degrees N and 31.81 degrees E, Murchison Falls National Park is right on the Equator. The climate of Uganda can be classified as Wet Equatorial. This climate is characterized by its constant high temperatures and precipitation, which leads to a constant cloud cover and high humidity. The temperature and precipitation rarely vary over the seasons, making it a consistently hot and humid climate (2).

The relative humidity ranges from 46-74 throughout the year, in the summer months the humidity is higher than it is in the winter. January- March are the months with the lowest humidity and June-August have the highest humidity rate. The incidence of fog is low because it is so humid here but it is possible in a low valley, or mist from the falls could be mistaken for fog.

Temperature and Precipitation:

Throughout the year, the annual temperature for Murchison Falls National Park in Uganda is relatively invariable and static where the temperature is primarily warm. Although there are few temperature variations throughout the year, December through March are typically the hotter months while June through September are typically the cooler months. The annual temperature range for Murchison Falls National Park has a high of 91 degrees Fahrenheit, a low of 63 degrees Fahrenheit, and an average annual temperature of approximately 72 degrees Fahrenheit. (1)

Precipitation is distributed over the course of the year at Murchison Falls National Park through two main seasons: the dry season and the wet season. During the dry season - which occurs during December, January and February - the weather is very dry and sunny with clear skies. During these hot months, December typically gets about 1.6 inches of rain, January only gets about 0.9 inches of rain, and February also gets about 1.6 inches of rain. During the wet season - which occurs during March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, and November - Murchison Falls experiences rain and overcast skies. The only type of precipitation that falls in Uganda is rain. From March through May, plenty of rain should be expected with a high of 5.7 inches of rain in April and a low of 3.5 inches of rain in March. During June and July, Murchison Falls actually experiences somewhat of a dry spell averaging at about 3.6 inches of rainfall. August, September, October, and November are the wettest months of the year with a high of 6.1 inches of rain in October and a low of 5.6 inches of rain in August and September. It is important to know that it does not rain every day during these months, but when it does rain it usually comes in the form of torrential downpours and severe thunderstorms. (1) (3)

Wind patterns and Severe Weather:

The predominant wind directions are predominantly from the South and varies whether they are blowing SE or SW. This week in Murchison Falls the wind directions are SE at the beginning of the week and SW nearing the end of the week. Next week the wind directions are predominantly SE/E. Throughout the year there is little to no wind speed change. The wind speed throughout the year is either 6 or 7MPH except in February when the average wind speed is 9MPH. Uganda is also on the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) which is a low-pressure region where trade winds of North and South come together. (6).

Due to wind direction and speed, Uganda has a maritime equatorial air mass. This air mass explains why this there is high heat and humidity in this Murchison Falls. Due to the maritime equatorial's high heat and humidity the Murchison Falls National Park can become susceptible to severe thunderstorms as well as flooding through out the Wet season. There is also continental tropical air mass surrounded our location of Murchison Falls Nation Park which would be the reason for long dry seasons. Due to the tropical air mass that causes these long dry season Murchison Falls is also able to become susceptible to droughts through out the dry season but even though it may go long periods without rain it is still possible for small amounts to form. (1)(3)(7).

Climate and ecoregions:

The primary ecoregion for Uganda is identified as "Northern Congolian forest-savanna mosaic." The biomes that surround Murchison Falls National Park include tropical as well as subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrubland.(9). The reason that these biomes dominate the area rather than things like tundra or tropical rain forest is due to the areas climate. The climate of the area, as illustrated above in the temperature and precipitation portion, is derived of two main seasons, a wet and a dry. The temperature is warm and it hardly fluctuates through out the entire year due to it's location in comparison with the equator.

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Plant and Wildlife:

The plants and wildlife of Murchison falls are few and far between. There is not very many trees and the ones that are in the area are centered around the falls. The wild life of the national park are adaptive and have become able to withstand the dry and wet seasons that they go through every year. While there are cliffs in the national park the topography does not disturb the distribution of the plant or animal life. The primary plants seen in the area a grass and shrubs.

The thing that does threaten the plant and wild life of the area is in fact the people. There has been an influx in the number of tourist that come to see the safaris and visit the national park. The farming of the natives is also disturbing the plant and wildlife. They are hurting the grasslands in the surround areas to make fields to grow crops, and they bring in domesticated pigs as livestock. These domesticated pigs are bringing in new diseases that are infesting the wild boars. Since the diseases are new the wildlife are not adapted to fight them off and in turn have been die more because of it. The worst thing that people due that disrupts the national park is poaching. Though they say the numbers have gone down over 100 poachers have been arrested in the months of January to July of 2012. The poaching of these animals for their pelt or ivory is what is damaging the species and causing the population numbers to plum it, making many of them become either endangered or extinct.(8).

Tectonic Plate Activity

Though there are no plate boundaries that run through the park it is still affect by a fault off the east of Africa. The fault lies 290 miles from the national park causing the strength of the earthquakes that affect the area to fall in the range of one to three in magnitude. At this low level on the Richter Scale it can hardly be felt by people and causes little to practically no damage to the area.

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Though the plate tectonics are not damaging the area they are helping shape the national park. The plates that are responsible for the national park are the African and Arabian plates. In the second half of the 20th century the African plate was pushing up an inward as the Arabian plate was pushing down.(10). These apposing forces helped to form some of the landforms found in Murchison Falls National Park.

Water supply

The water supply for Murchison Falls National Park comes from two main sources: the Nile River and Lake Victoria. However, the water in the Nile River and Lake Victoria is very contaminated. In the coming years, it may not be possible to treat Uganda's water enough to provide safe drinking water. (11). Many people in Uganda drink from water sources that are share with animals and causes 75% of diseases due to the lack of clean water. Most restaurants and businesses in Uganda provide sealed water bottles so that their customers know that it is safe to drink.

The river and weathering from the water also helped shape the area a lot. Due to the increased amounts of weathering the primary rock formation that is found is sedimentary rocks. The Nile river was also able to form a second fall due to some of the flooding that can occur in the area. Over the years the high volume of rain water was able to carve a new path in the river creating an new fall called Uhuru Falls.

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Overview of Location: