Temperature Controls in the city of Addis Ababa in Ethiopia

In this post, I will briefly explain the climate Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia (9.0300° N, 38.7400°E). My expectation when I was researching what the temperature was like in this city was that it was going to be extremely hot. However, I was shocked to find out that it was not that hot at all, by Hawai’i standards. According to http://www.weather-and-climate.com, the warmest month in Addis Ababa, which is May, is 77°F while the coolest month, July, is 68°F. Based on that information, the annual range of temperature for Addis Ababa is 9°F.

            This surprisingly cool temperature is due to a few factors, but for now I’ll focus on elevation. Addis Ababa has an elevation of 2,536m or 7,730ft. That is very high in comparison to Mt. Ka’ala (highest point on O’ahu) which is 1,227m or 4,025ft. The effect that elevation has on air temperature is due to less atmospheric pressure and density as altitude increases . As this pressure decreases, the air molecules have more room expand and thus the cooler air temperature. One temperature control that does not affect the city is its geographic location away from the open ocean. Because the city is pretty far from the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, and the Arabian Sea, differential heating has no large affect on it. Differential heating is when land heats faster than water or vice versa. The warmer air pulls the cooler air in.

            Because of the high elevation and position near the equator, Addis Ababa has a moderate year round temperature. It is not affected by ocean currents too much, and should sea levels rise, its high elevation would not harm the city negatively. Since Addis Ababa has a subtropical highland climate, drought would not be a problem as well. It seems that it is a safe place to be with regards to future climate change, as it is in an ideal geographical position.


Source: http://www.weather-and-climate.com/average-monthly-Rainfall-Temperature-Sunshine-fahrenheit,Addis-Abbeba,Ethiopia