CHAPTER IV 

 METEOROLOGY^ 



INTRODUCTION 



THE modern development of air communications, from Europe 

 through Egypt or down the Red Sea to East Africa, and across 

 the Sahara or down the Atlantic coast-line to West Africa, necessi- 

 tates a close degree of co-operation between the meteorological 

 services of countries bordering the Mediterranean with those lying 

 to the south of the Sahara. This chapter accordingly includes the 

 Mediterranean countries in its purview. 



The principal applications of meteorology to human progress 

 are two: the utilization of climatic conditions and the prevision of 

 weather changes. The agricultural capacity of different areas 

 depends largely on climatic conditions; water-supply, navigation 

 and the development of hydro-electric works depend in different 

 ways on the variation of rainfall. Weather forecasts of relatively 

 long periods are valuable for the farmer and for the traveller, 

 who wants to know what roads will be open; and daily forecasts, 

 supported by more frequent warnings of sudden change, are 

 essential for the purposes of air transport. 



The major industry of Africa — farming — is often seriously handi- 

 capped by weather, especially by variation in rainfall, and experi- 

 ence of past disasters has shown the need for data collected over 

 long periods of years at numerous stations. Meteorological records 

 have been somewhat unsystematic in the past, and this is still true 

 for some areas, where rainfall is measured by African clerks. In a 



* Arrangements were made in 1934 for a specialist, Mr. L. C. W. Bonacina of the 

 Royal Geographical Society, to prepare a separate memorandum on Meteorology in 

 Africa. This has been most valuable in writing the following summary of the subject, 

 but it has been supplemented by other information, and the draft has been completely 

 revised after comments and criticisms were received from twenty-five specialists who 

 are referred to in the Preface. 



