A historic deluge has transformed parts of the Sahara Desert, once barren and arid, into a landscape of blue lagoons and lush greenery. This extraordinary event, unprecedented in decades, has captivated the world and raised questions about the future of this arid region.
To learn more about this fascinating event, please watch the following video and complete the exercise below:
LEVEL 3(ORIGNAL NEWSPAPER)
Listen and fill in the blanks:
A rare deluge of rainfall left blue lagoons of water amid the palm trees and sand dunes of the Sahara desert, nourishing some of its driest regions with more water than they had seen in .
Southeastern Morocco's desert is among the most arid places in the world and rarely experiences rain in late .
The Moroccan government said two days of rainfall in September exceeded yearly averages in several areas that see less than 10 inches annually, including Tata, one of the areas hit .
In Tagounite, a village about 280 miles south of the capital, Rabat, more than 3.9 inches were recorded in a 24-hour .
The storms left striking images of water gushing through the Saharan sands amid castles and desert .
NASA satellites showed water rushing in to fill Lake Iriqui, a famous lake bed between Zagora and Tata that had been dry for 50 .
A rare deluge of rainfall left blue lagoons of water amid the palm trees and sand dunes of the Sahara desert, nourishing some of its driest regions with more water than they had seen in .
Southeastern Morocco's desert is among the most arid places in the world and rarely experiences rain in late .
The Moroccan government said two days of rainfall in September exceeded yearly averages in several areas that see less than 10 inches annually, including Tata, one of the areas hit .
In Tagounite, a village about 280 miles south of the capital, Rabat, more than 3.9 inches were recorded in a 24-hour .
The storms left striking images of water gushing through the Saharan sands amid castles and desert .
NASA satellites showed water rushing in to fill Lake Iriqui, a famous lake bed between Zagora and Tata that had been dry for 50 .
According to NASA, such an occurrence is so rare in the region that a lake in Algeria, Sebkha el Melah, had only been filled six times from 2000-.
In desert communities frequented by tourists, 4x4s motored through the puddles and residents surveyed the scene in .
"It's been 30 to 50 years since we've had this much rain in such a short space of time," said Houssine Youabeb of Morocco's General Directorate of .
Such rains, which meteorologists are calling an extratropical storm, may change the course of the region's weather in months and years to come as the air retains more moisture, causing more evaporation and drawing more , Youabeb said.
Six consecutive years of drought have posed challenges for much of Morocco, forcing farmers to leave fields fallow and cities and villages to ration .
The bounty of rainfall will likely help refill the large groundwater aquifers beneath the desert that are relied upon to supply water in desert communities.
The region's dammed reservoirs reported refilling at record rates throughout .
However, it's unclear how far September's rains will go toward alleviating .
Water gushing through the sands and oases left more than 20 dead in Morocco and Algeria and damaged farmers' harvests, forcing the government to allocate emergency relief funds, including in some areas affected by last year's .
Source: CBS news
Answer Key:
- 1. decades
- 2. summer
- 3. hardest
- 4. period
- 5. flora
- 6. years
- 7. decades
- 8. summer
- 9. hardest
- 10. period
- 11. flora
- 12. years
- 13. 2021
- 14. awe
- 15. Meteorology
- 16. storms
- 17. water
- 18. September
- 19. drought
- 20. earthquake
Transcript:
A rare deluge of rainfall left blue lagoons of water amid the palm trees and sand dunes of the Sahara desert, nourishing some of its driest regions with more water than they had seen in decades.
Southeastern Morocco's desert is among the most arid places in the world and rarely experiences rain in late summer.
The Moroccan government said two days of rainfall in September exceeded yearly averages in several areas that see less than 10 inches annually, including Tata, one of the areas hit hardest. In Tagounite, a village about 280 miles south of the capital, Rabat, more than 3.9 inches were recorded in a 24-hour period.
The storms left striking images of water gushing through the Saharan sands amid castles and desert flora. NASA satellites showed water rushing in to fill Lake Iriqui, a famous lake bed between Zagora and Tata that had been dry for 50 years.
A rare deluge of rainfall left blue lagoons of water amid the palm trees and sand dunes of the Sahara desert, nourishing some of its driest regions with more water than they had seen in decades.
Southeastern Morocco's desert is among the most arid places in the world and rarely experiences rain in late summer.
The Moroccan government said two days of rainfall in September exceeded yearly averages in several areas that see less than 10 inches annually, including Tata, one of the areas hit hardest. In Tagounite, a village about 280 miles south of the capital, Rabat, more than 3.9 inches were recorded in a 24-hour period.
The storms left striking images of water gushing through the Saharan sands amid castles and desert flora. NASA satellites showed water rushing in to fill Lake Iriqui, a famous lake bed between Zagora and Tata that had been dry for 50 years.
According to NASA, such an occurrence is so rare in the region that a lake in Algeria, Sebkha el Melah, had only been filled six times from 2000-2021.
In desert communities frequented by tourists, 4x4s motored through the puddles and residents surveyed the scene in awe.
"It's been 30 to 50 years since we've had this much rain in such a short space of time," said Houssine Youabeb of Morocco's General Directorate of Meteorology.
Such rains, which meteorologists are calling an extratropical storm, may change the course of the region's weather in months and years to come as the air retains more moisture, causing more evaporation and drawing more storms, Youabeb said.
Six consecutive years of drought have posed challenges for much of Morocco, forcing farmers to leave fields fallow and cities and villages to ration water.
The bounty of rainfall will likely help refill the large groundwater aquifers beneath the desert that are relied upon to supply water in desert communities. The region's dammed reservoirs reported refilling at record rates throughout September. However, it's unclear how far September's rains will go toward alleviating drought.
Water gushing through the sands and oases left more than 20 dead in Morocco and Algeria and damaged farmers' harvests, forcing the government to allocate emergency relief funds, including in some areas affected by last year's earthquake.
Source: CBS news
