Chaparral Climate Tropical Moist Climate (Af)

In an average year in a tropical rain forest, the climate is very humid because of all the rainfall, which amounts to about 250 cm per year. The rain forest has lots of rain because it is very hot and wet. This climate is found near the equator. That means that there is more direct sunlight hitting the land and sea there than anywhere else. The sun warms the land and sea and the water evaporates into the air. The warm air can hold a lot of water vapor. As the air rises, it cools. That means it can hold less water vapor. Then as warm meets cold, condensation takes place and the vapor forms droplets, and clouds form. The clouds then produce rain. It rains more than ninety days a year and the strong sun usually shines between the storms. The water cycle repeats often along the equator. The main plants in this biome are trees. A lot of the rain that falls on the rain forest never reaches the ground. It stays on the trees because the leaves act as a shield, and some rain never gets past the trees to the smaller plants and grounds below. Trees in this climate reach a height of more than 164 feet. They form a canopy. The forest floor is called understory. The canopy also keeps sunlight from reaching the plants in the understory. Between the canopy and understory is a lower canopy made up of smaller trees. These plants do receive some filtered sunlight.

The tropical rain forest is classified as Af meaning tropical forest The A is given to tropical climates that are moist for all months which have average temperatures above 18 degrees Celsius. The f stands for sufficient precipitation for all months. The latitude range for rainforest climate is 15° to 25° North and South of the equator

The annual precipitation of a rain forest is greater than 150 cm. In only a month the rain forest receives 4 inches of rain. The rain forest is different from a lot of other climates. In other climates, the evaporation is carried away to fall as rain in far off areas, but in the rain forests, 50 % of the precipitation comes from its own evaporation.

The average temperature of a rain forest is about 77° Fahrenheit. The rain forest is about the same temperature year round. The temperature never drops below 64° Fahrenheit. Rain forests are so hot because they are found near the equator. The closer to the equator you are, the more solar radiation there is. The more solar radiation there is, the hotter it is. Rain forest are never found in climates which have temperatures 32° Fahrenheit and below because the plant life will not be able to live because they aren't adapted to frost. All the plants will die out if the rain forest is cooler.

The plants that make up the understory of a rainforest have adapted to the small amount of sunlight that they receive. Ferns and mosses do well, along with epiphytes. These are plants that grow on other plants. They can be found growing on branches of tall trees where they can get sunlight. There are many different plant species found in the rain forest.

by Michael G. 2001


Bibliography:

"Köppen's Climate Classification - a summary", http://www.huizen.dds.nl/~gvg/ctkoppen.htm (Nov 2000)

"Biomes and Soils", http://www.tesarta.com/www/resources/library/biomes.html (Dec 2000)

"rainfall", http://encarta.msn.com/find/print.asp?&pg=8&ti=00531000&sc=29&pt=1. (Dec. 2000)

"temperature", http://encarta.msn.com/find/print.asp?&pg=8&ti=00531000&sc=29&pt=1 (Dec. 2000)

Allaby, Michael. Biomes of the World Volume 7. Oxford: Andromeda Limited 1999

Kellert ,Stephen R. Macmillan Encyclopedia of the Environment. Simon and Schuster, Prentice Hall International. 1997

"Passport to the Rainforest", http://passporttoknowledge.com/rainforest/GEOsystem/Rainforests/climate.html (March 2001)


Southeast Asian Climate (Af)

Southeast Asia is a part of Asia. It consists a 3,100 mile long chain of about 20,000 islands strung between Asia and Australia. Winds called monsoons control much of the climate of Southeast Asia. The word monsoon comes from the Arabic word "mausim", meaning season. Southeast Asian rainforests have four different seasons; the winter northeast monsoon, the summer southwest monsoon and two intermonsoon seasons. The northeast monsoon season is from November to March and has steady winds from the north or northeast that blow from 10 to 30 knots. These winds originate all the way in Siberia and bring typhoons and other severe weather. Typhoons are the southern Hemisphere's version of hurricanes. The east coasts of the Southeast Asian islands get heavy rains during this time. The southwest monsoon season is from late May to September. The winds don't blow as hard and the weather is a little drier. This doesn't mean everything dries up, it still rains every day, just not as much. During the intermonsoon seasons the winds are light. All seasons are hot and humid, and there is very little seasonal variation in temperature.

Southeast Asia's rainforests were thought to be the most bio-diverse regions in the world. They found as many as 200 tree species in one single hectare. Recently the record has been beat by Peru. There are also a lot of endangered species in the Southeast Asian rainforest. Southeast Asia has 10 independent countries. They are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

The letter code under Köppen's climate classification is Af. The A stands for a place that has a rainy, cool summer but a warm spring. The f stands for moist, fair rainfall in all months. Af climates are caused by consistent warmth in the temperatures. So, Af stands for the tropical rainforest climate. The Af climates have high humidities, which cause afternoon clouds and rain showers. These are some temperatures of the Af climate. The average temperature in the coldest month of the year is at least 18° C. The daily temperature range is 10° C to 25° C. The humidity is very oppressive! The vegetation for Af is a broad leaf evergreen forest. The location of the Af climate is low-lying areas near the equator.

Southeast Asia has uniform temperatures, high humidity and lots of rain. The average temperature per year is 80° F. Ninety five degrees Fahrenheit, however, is the high temperature for tropical rainforests. The climate is very humid and sticky because Southeast Asia is surrounded by oceans. The average humidity is from 70 to 90 %. The annual precipitation is heavy; 60 inches to over 100 inches.

The latitude range of this climate is 16° S to 20° N latitude, and the longitude range is 95° to 130° E.

by Lydia F.  2002


bibliography

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