The names of the main types of climate and their respective belts are heard by everyone. Few people know such words as equatorial, tropical, temperate and polar. And even imagine, at least in general terms, the weather characteristic of them is quite simple. Also familiar to many are the terms denoting their transitional variants, distinguished by the prefix sub-. However, in addition to these names, one can find the use of the phrase humid and arid climate. What area do they belong to? What usually happens in these areas? What conditions are their residents used to?
What is climate
The word "climate" means averaged weather over many years. Moreover, the whole set of factors influencing it is taken into account - from the angle of incidence of sunlight, to the magnitude and mass of the planet.
A lot of various indicators are used to characterize the climate: atmospheric pressure and features of the movement of air currents, humidity and cloud cover, the influence of astronomical bodies and features of daylight hours, the specifics of the landscape and ocean currents, types of soil and its covers - everything that can affect the constant manifestations of weather.
The specificity and the possibility of the occurrence of certain phenomena for a particular area depends on the total impact of all components. What is familiar to one area of the Earth can never happen in another. And if this happens, you have to talk about planetary anomalies and look for their causes.
A separate branch of the science of meteorology, climatology, is studying this aspect of Earth's life.
Climate classifications
Various scientists are based on different criteria for assessing the terrain, to classify its climate as one or another type - these can be both atmospheric indicators and types of vegetation that are characteristic of a specific area of the globe in natural conditions.
There are several types of climate classification based on them. The system of Boris Pavlovich Alisov, a Soviet climatologist, has been adopted in Russia and the former Soviet republics. It takes into account the specifics of atmospheric phenomena.
The term "humid climate" was first used in geomorphological climatic studies of Albrecht Penk. The basis of this classification is the study of the formation of the earth's surface.
What is its humid climate?
The word humid comes from the Latin adjective humidus, which means "wet."
This type of climate is characterized by a greater amount of precipitation than the soil can take in, and the earth's surface evaporates.
The result of this is the formation of a special hydrographic map of the area. Due to the large amount of surface wastewater, a certain relief is formed, water bodies are formed and moisture-loving flora grows.
The humid climate is found in the temperate, subarctic and equatorial zones of the planet.
The whole group can be divided into two types.
- Polar - zones with such a climate are located in the first two of the climatic zones listed above. Due to many years of deep freezing of the soil, its ability to take moisture into the soil is limited, which leads to a surface distribution of precipitation.
- Tropical (otherwise this type of humid climate is called phreatic). Excessive rainfall here leads to excessive humidity. However, part of their soil can take in the deep layers of the soil.
There are also smaller subgroups of the humid climate in the Thorntveit and Penk classifications. With a more detailed study of the issue, one can come across such terms as sub-humid, pergumide, semi- or seven-humid. These are subtypes of climate, identified on the basis of the moisture index of the area.
The prefix per- means excess, sub- refers to steppe regions where precipitation abounds, and seven- characterizes, in this case, the transition to semi-arid climatic zones in which arid and humid conditions border.
What is arid climate
Speaking about the transition to zones of arid climate, one cannot be silent about its essence.
Characteristic features of arid climate are scarce precipitation and excessive aridity, active evaporation of moisture from the surface. The name comes from the Latin word aridus, which in translation will sound like "dry." This is the opposite of humid conditions - the entry of moisture into the soil is much less than its ability to evaporate.
Both arid and humid climates are found on the planet both in warm and in cold form.