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Class #3: Wednesday, September 1, 2010. Tropical climates, continued. Fig. 17-2, p. 472. Fig. 17-6, p. 477. Fig. 17-7a, p. 478. Fig. 17-7b, p. 479. Table 17-1a, p. 480. Table 17-1b, p. 480. Fig. 9-2, p. 225. Fig. 9-14, p. 232. Fig. 9-14, p. 232. Fig. 9-15, p. 234. Fig. 9-22, p. 239.
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Class #3: Wednesday, September 1, 2010 Tropical climates, continued
Friday, Sept. 3, 2010 Fig. 17-2, p. 472
Friday, Sept. 3, 2010 Fig. 17-6, p. 477
Friday, Sept. 3, 2010 Fig. 17-7a, p. 478
Friday, Sept. 3, 2010 Fig. 17-7b, p. 479
Friday, Sept. 3, 2010 Table 17-1a, p. 480
Friday, Sept. 3, 2010 Table 17-1b, p. 480
Friday, Sept. 3, 2010 Fig. 9-2, p. 225
Friday, Sept. 3, 2010 Fig. 9-14, p. 232
Friday, Sept. 3, 2010 Fig. 9-14, p. 232
Friday, Sept. 3, 2010 Fig. 9-15, p. 234
Friday, Sept. 3, 2010 Fig. 9-22, p. 239
Friday, Sept. 3, 2010 Fig. 9-22a, p. 239
Friday, Sept. 3, 2010 Fig. 9-22b, p. 239
Stepped Art Friday, Sept. 3, 2010 Fig. 9-22c, p. 239
Stepped Art Friday, Sept. 3, 2010 Fig. 9-22c, p. 239
Friday, Sept. 3, 2010 Fig. 9-23, p. 239
Friday, Sept. 3, 2010 Fig. 9-24, p. 240
Friday, Sept. 3, 2010 Fig. 9-24a, p. 240
Friday, Sept. 3, 2010 Fig. 9-24b, p. 240
Stepped Art Friday, Sept. 3, 2010 Fig. 9-25, p. 241
Friday, Sept. 3, 2010 Fig. 9-26, p. 241
Friday, Sept. 3, 2010 Fig. 9-30, p. 243
Common features of tropical climates • Occur mainly between tropics of Cancer and Capricorn (23.5º N and S) • Warm year-round, no winter • Minor or minimal change in temperature throughout the year • All are moist (as opposed to dry) climates • All influenced by the rising branch of the Hadley circulation and the ITCZ
Types of tropical (A) climate There are 3, based on different degrees of seasonality of precipitation Tropical wet climate, Af • Significant rainfall every month of the year Tropical wet and dry climate, Aw • Pronounced (“winter”) dry season Monsoonal climate, Am • Relative dryness for 1-3 months but enough moisture that vegetation need not be adapted to seasonal drought • Smaller area than that influenced by monsoons
Tropical wet (Af) • Largest areas in Amazon Basin, western Africa, islands of East Indies (maritime continent) • Under constant influence of ITCZ • No dry period, precipitation convective, sometimes with orographic uplift (Atlantic coast of Central America • Not the hottest climates because evaporation uses so much energy and cloudiness reflects
Af (continued) • Night temperatures stay warm on account of high humidity • Vegetation is tropical rain forest • Dense canopy of tree cover • Tremendous amount of species diversity
Friday, Sept. 3, 2010 Fig. 17-9, p. 481
Friday, Sept. 3, 2010 Fig. 17-8, p. 481
Monsoonal (Am) • Can be thought of as transitional between tropical wet (Af) and tropical wet and dry (Aw) • Occur along tropical coastal areas with predominant onshore winds • Northeastern South America, southwest India, eastern Bay of Bengal, Phillipines • Not the same as monsoonal winds, which affect a larger area
Am (continued) • Precipitation depends on speed convergence as wind approaches the coast • Precipitation also enhanced by orographic uplift • Local convergence from surface heating not important like for Af • Some precip from tropical storms, hurricanes, extratropical cyclones • Among the highest precipitation amounts in the world
Am (continued) • Warmest month just before summer monsoon • Usually support dense forests, lush vegetation, jungle • Not so luxuriant or as abundant in species diversity as Af, but much more than Aw
Tropical Wet and Dry (Aw) • Occur often along the poleward margins of the tropics between Af and B (dry) • Most extensive in South and Central America and southern Africa • Farther from the equator, more seasonal variation in precipitation and temperature than Af and Am • High sun season: ITCZ favors thunderstorms • Low sun season: Subtropical high, descending air, suppression of convection
Aw (continued) • “w” is for winter dry season, not wet • Closer to subtropical high than Am, so longer, drier dry season than Am • Tropical depressions , storms and hurricanes can augment precipitation • Less precip overall than Am, Af • Considerable year to year variability, unlike Am, Af • Within the year, more variability in temperature than Am, Af; less than others
Aw (continued) • Diurnal temperature range in dry season much greater than for Af and Am • A unique vegetation type, savannah (not Savannah, Georgia)—grasses interspersed with widely separated trees or clumps of trees. Not necessarily due to the dry season—recurrent fire, waterlogged soil, and hard layers within the soil may be more important
Friday, Sept. 3, 2010 Fig. 17-11, p. 483
Friday, Sept. 3, 2010 Fig. 17-10, p. 482