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The Sahara Desert Experiences Its Heaviest Snowfall Yet

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Nabillah •  Jan 12, 2018

The Sahara Desert experienced snowfall in the early hours of last Sunday morning – the third time in nearly 40 years! Local residents of small town Ain Sefra, the Gateway to the desert, were stunned to see snow when they woke up. ❄️

Credit: @acrisiomelo on Instagram

A layer of up to 1 meter of snow covered desert dunes and remained until 5pm, astonishing the world as this is by far the heaviest snowfall in the Sahara.

Credit: @climatetracker on Instagram

Even more worrying is that the last time the Sahara experienced snowfall was only about a year ago in December! ?

Snowfall in the Sahara, December 2016

Credit: @elsiglocomve on Instagram

While some sources suspect that the snowfall was a worrying result of climate change, others note that it is a logical change in weather patterns. According to some experts, the cold air blowing in from the Atlantic would have likely caused snow to fall in the Sahara.

Credit: @descubriendomarruecos5808 on Instagram

The snowfall in the Sahara Desert is a single occurrence of unexpected weather conditions in a series of many others reported in 2017, among which were hurricanes Irma, Harvey and Maria in the US and the Caribbean in September. Unexpected changes in weather conditions such as these could affect your future plans, so you may want to book that trip to your dream destination soon!

A beach house overturned by Hurricane Irma in Florida last year in September

Credit: @paulbr75 on pixabay

Ultimately, climate change is definitely not a myth and we can do our part as travelers and Muslims by traveling ethically and being aware of our carbon footprint. ?  One small step such as recycling our disposables can really go a long way! There’s no better way to appreciate the beautiful places God has created for us to explore. ?

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