Climate Classifications of Ethiopia

Abstract

The general purpose of this classification is to arrange climatic information from past recorded and archived climatic data in a simplified and comprehensible form so as to assist various climatic users. The use of climatic classification is for better understanding and utilization of the climatic resources of a given region. In general Climate affects all of us everyday in relation to the crops we grow, the water we drink, the place where we live, the clothes we wear, the energy we use in heating or cooling our house, our health, the quality of the environment, our national economy and in countless other ways. Understanding the climatic reality of a place, a region or a country enabls man to do a better job of weather sensitive activities. In general climate is a major natural resource which can benefit nearly all human activities. On the other hand climatic events such as drought, floods or severe cold spells can adversely affect human activities. Therefore to propose future directions mainly for practical applications such as agriculture, health, settlement of people and also for planning, short, medium and long term economic planning like designing hydrodams, residential areas and recreational facilities requires better climatic information. As a result of recurring drought mainly during the last two decades in some parts of Ethiopia climatic information has become more demanding than ever before for the purpose of making better decisions. Thus to generalize the climatic types and boundaries throughout the country, koeppen system has been applied on the existing climatological data to produce a meaningful climatic map.