East Africa is located at the equator and has a tropical desert climate and a tropical Mediterranean steppe climate. Only the southernmost city, Kepler, has a Mediterranean climate. Determining the type of natural landscape that a region will form has a very important relationship with local climatic conditions and topographical factors.
In areas close to the equator, such as the Malay Archipelago and Latin America, typical tropical rainforest landscapes are found. This is because the Malay Archipelago and the Amazon Plain are both low-altitude places, and the flow of warm and humid ocean air can penetrate deep into the interior, forming a strong maritime climate type. On the East African plateau, topography has a greater impact on climate formation. Not only does it prevent ocean water vapor from penetrating inland, but due to the high altitude and low temperaturesures, the heat is not sufficient. Combined with the cold Somali Current and dry offshore winds along the coast, rainfall is insufficient in East Africa, resulting in a relatively dry tropical desert climate and savannah climate.
The relief of East Africa not only affects the local climate, but also has a strong impact on the formation of local vegetation and landscape. On the East African Plateau, the core area is savannah, so the biodiversity and plant types are much lower than at lower elevations. This is the main reason why East Africa is so arid at the equator.