In one of the world's renowned deserts, a very unusual phenomenon has recently took place which has left locals of northern Africa with an unlikely experience of a white Christmas. For the second time since February of 1979, snow has once again fallen on the Sahara desert. It was found that the viral photos were allegedly taken by amateur photographer Karim Bouchetata in the small Saharan desert town of Ain Sefra, Algeria, which he then dubbed as "The Gateway to the Desert" yesterday afternoon.
Snow Hits The Deserts Of Sahara, But Why?
In one of his statements reported by News, Mr Bouchetata had described that everyone was stunned to see snow falling in the dessert, it is such a rare occurrence. It looked amazing as the snow settled on the sand and made a great set of photos. Some villagers say that it was a good thing the amateur photographer was on hand to capture the images because the snow didn't hang around for long since it has just stayed for almost a day in the town, which is around 1,000 meters above sea level and surrounded by the Atlas Mountains and has eventually melted away.
Furthermore, according to Metro, Karim has claimed that the rare phenomenon had actually looked amazing as the snow settled on the sand and made a great set of photos. It was found that the Sahara Desert covers most of Northern Africa and it has gone through shifts in temperature and moisture over the past few hundred thousand years. Moreover, while being currently known as a very dry area, experts have revealed that Sahara desert is expected to become green again in about 15,000 years.
Meanwhile, certain reports have been revealed stating that Ain Sefra's average temperature last year was 20 degrees Celsius. Recent studies suggest global warming may be a cyclical change brought on by natural shifts in an area's climate. Ultimately, experts found that the increased snowfall would only mean that the Arctic ice is set to expand more than expected especially during the area winter months, potentially tossing a wrench in climate models predicting catastrophic global warming.
