Editing Namib (section)

== Climate ==
[[File:Mondlandschaft Namibia 01.JPG|thumb|An area known as the "Moon Landscape"]]The Namib's aridity is caused by the descent of dry air of the [[Hadley cell]], cooled by the cold [[Benguela Current]] along the coast. It has less than {{convert|10|mm|in|abbr=on}} of rain annually and is almost completely barren. Besides rain being scarce, it is also unpredictable. Western Namib gets less rain (5&nbsp;mm) than eastern Namib (85&nbsp;mm). This is due to several factors. Winds coming from the Indian Ocean lose part of their humidity when passing the [[Drakensberg]] mountains, and are essentially dry when they reach the Namib Escarpment at the eastern end of the desert. On the other hand, winds coming from the Atlantic Ocean are pressed down by hot air from the east; their humidity thus forms clouds and fog. Morning fogs coming from the ocean and pushing inwards into the desert are a regular phenomenon along the coast, and much of the life cycle of animals and plants in the Namib relies on these fogs as the main source of water.
[[File:Namib desert 5.JPG|left|thumb|200x200px|Yellow desert]]
The dry climate of Namib reflects the almost complete lack of bodies of water on the surface. Most rivers flow underground and/or are dry for most of the year. Even when they are not, they usually drain into [[endorheic basin|endorheic]] basins, without reaching the sea. The Swakop and the [[Omaruru River|Omaruru]] are the only rivers that occasionally drain into the ocean.
[[File:Namib Sand Sea buiobuione.tif|thumb|220x220px|Namib sand sea]]
All along the coast, but mostly in the northernmost part of it, the interaction between the water-laden air coming from the sea via southerly [[wind]]s, some of the strongest of any coastal desert, and the dry air of the desert causes immense [[fog]]s and strong currents. It causes sailors to lose their way; this is testified by the remnants of several [[shipwreck]]s that can be found along the [[Skeleton Coast]], in northern Namib. Some of these wrecked ships (such as that of the ''[[Eduard Bohlen|Eduard Bolen]]'', can be found as much as 400m inland, as the desert slowly moves westwards into the sea, reclaiming land over many years.
Benguela's El Niño (similar to the Pacific event in its environmental change in the seas) spreads from the Kunene estuary southward to, on occasion, south of Luderitz. Warm waters with depth and associated water flow from the northwest were first fully catalogued by Sea Fisheries researchers, in Cape Town (L V Shannon ''et al.''). The research noted the positive effect of Benguela's El Niño on the rainfall of the interior. Rainfall records also show positive values variously across the Namib, Desert Research Station, and Gobabeb for instance. This event recurs approximately mid-decade (recent examples are 1974, 1986, 1994, 1995, and 2006).