The floods hit… the SAHARA! Shocking before-and-after satellite images show huge lake emerging after desert hit by its biggest deluge in decades

It is known as one of the driest places on our planet.

But shocking before-and-after pictures show exactly what happened when the Sahara desert was hit by its biggest deluge for decades.

The images were captured by NASA’s Landsat 9, an Earth observation satellite that regularly broadcasts photos of our planet.

In the first image, Sebkha el Melah can be seen encrusted with Algerian salt on August 12, before the rains.

On September 29, a huge green lake had emerged at the site, after storm runoff partially filled the ephemeral desert lake.

And as global temperatures continue to rise, NASA says we could see more regular flooding in parts of the Sahara.

“What will happen to the Sahara is not yet very clear, but we hope that eventually we will develop a better understanding of the future of the Sahara by studying these lake-filling events,” said Moshe Armon, a senior professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. .

Shocking before-and-after pictures show exactly what happened when the Sahara desert was hit by its biggest deluge in decades

Although most of us know that the Sahara desert was covered in sand, approximately 11,000 to 15,000 years ago, it looked very different.

Geological and archaeological evidence indicates that vegetation, wetlands, and even lakes once covered large areas of the desert.

However, last month, signs of that wetter and greener past began to re-emerge, after an extratropical cyclone dumped a deluge of rain on parts of North Africa.

On August 12, the OLI-2 camera aboard the Landsat 9 satellite captured an image of the salt-encrusted Sebkha el Melah.

The satellite observed the lake beginning to fill in mid-September, and green waters emerged on September 29.

“The lake is located along a ridge of the Ougarta mountain range and is fed by the Oued Saoura, an ephemeral river (sometimes called a wadi) that enters from the southeast,” NASA explained.

By Oct. 16, the lake was one-third full, with water covering 74 square miles at a depth of 7.2 feet (2.2 meters), according to Armon.

The filling of a lake in the Sahara desert is very rare.

Beyond Algeria, the Moroccan government said two days of rain in September exceeded the annual average in several areas that see less than 250 millimeters a year, including Tata, one of the worst-hit areas.

In fact, since June 2000, only six rain events have brought enough water to begin filling the lake.

And only two other rain events — one in 2008 and one in 2014 — resulted in larger lake volumes than this one.

However, when Sebkha el Melah fills up, the water tends to stay for years.

After the lake was filled in 2008, it wasn’t until 2012 that it completely dried up.

“If we don’t have more rain events, a depth of 2.2 meters, like now, would take about a year to completely evaporate,” Dr Armon said.

Beyond Algeria, the Moroccan government said two days of rain in September exceeded the annual average in several areas that record less than 250 millimeters annually, including Tata, one of the worst-hit areas.

In Tagounite, a village about 280 kilometers south of the capital, Rabat, more than 100 millimeters were recorded in a 24-hour period.

The storms left stunning images of water gushing across the Sahara sands dotted with castles and desert flora.

Lakes caused by heavy rains are seen among sand dunes in the desert town of Merzouga, near Rachidia, in southeastern Morocco, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024. The Moroccan government said two days of rain in September they exceeded the annual average in several areas

Palm trees are reflected in a lake caused by heavy rains in the desert town of Merzouga, near Rachidia, in southeastern Morocco, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024

NASA satellites showed water flowing to fill Lake Iriqui, a famous lake bed between Zagora and Tata that had been dry for 50 years.

In desert communities frequented by tourists, 4×4 vehicles drove through puddles and residents watched the scene in awe.

“It’s been 30 to 50 years since we had this much rain in such a short time,” said Houssine Youabeb of Morocco’s Directorate General of Meteorology.

Human-caused climate change worsened Africa’s deadly floods, which killed hundreds of people and displaced millions in Cameroon, Chad, Niger, Nigeria and Sudan, according to a study released today by World Weather Attribution .

“These results are incredibly worrying,” said Izidine Pinto, one of the study’s authors and a researcher at the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute.

“With every fraction of a degree of warming, the risk of extreme flooding will continue to increase.

Joyce Kimutai, a researcher at Imperial’s Center for Environmental Policy, added: “Africa has contributed a small amount of global carbon emissions, but is being hit hardest by extreme climate.”