We explain what warm climate is, what its characteristics are and what subtypes exist. In addition, examples of flora and fauna from environments with warm climates.
What is warm weather?
Hot climate is a type of climate that is characterized by warm temperatures above 18°C all year round. This climate is common in the intertropical regions near the equator.
The warm climate can be subdivided according to the amount of precipitation, distance from the equator, and distance to the tropics. The subtypes of warm climate, according to the Köppen climate classification, are the equatorial tropical, monsoon tropical, savanna tropical, warm semiarid and warm arid.
In some cases, hot climates can be very rainy, and the combination of heat and abundant rainfall creates favorable conditions for the formation of jungles and humid forests.
In other cases, hot climates can be very dry, and have very little rain throughout the year. In those places they form vast deserts which are characterized by extreme heat and lack of vegetation.
Features of warm weather
Some main characteristics of the warm climate are:
- It is located in areas near the equator, between the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn.
- The average monthly temperature never drops below 18°C.
- It can have abundant rainfall throughout the year and form very humid environments, with biomes such as jungle and humid forest.
- It can have very little rainfall and form extensive deserts.
- It has flora and fauna adapted to high temperatures throughout the year.
- In some areas with warm climates, tropical storms and hurricanes are frequent.
- Central America and some areas of Brazil, Colombia and Venezuela in America, central and northern Africa, Southeast Asia and Australia in Oceania are some of the areas of the world that have a warm climate.
Types of warm weather
There are five types of warm climate:
- equatorial tropical. It takes place in areas that are crossed by the equator. It stands out for the constant rains throughout the year. Seasonal variations are minimal and temperatures are usually between 24 and 34 °C all year round. Precipitation is abundant and there is no dry season. The annual accumulations can exceed 3000 mm, with maximums of 4000 or 5000 mm. The combination of high temperatures and frequent rainfall favors the development of lush vegetation. The predominant biome is the tropical jungle, with a great diversity of plant and animal species.
- Tropical monsoon. It has high temperatures all year round, but rainfall is less than in the equatorial tropical climate. During the summer months, rainfall is very abundant, with values that exceed 100 mm per month, but in the winter months it decreases noticeably and can even present values of 0 mm. The predominant biome is the jungle, a product of the high temperatures and abundant rains during the summer.
- Savannah Tropical. It has high temperatures all year round and a marked seasonality in its rainfall, with very rainy months and very dry others. The difference with the tropical monsoon climate is that the rainy season is much shorter and entire months can go by without rain. The typical biome of this climate is the savanna, with the presence of scattered grasslands and trees, and flora and fauna adapted to the alternation of rain and extensive dry periods.
- warm semiarid. It has an average annual temperature higher than 18 °C. It is characterized by mild winters and very warm summers, with rainfall between 300 and 500 millimeters per year. The flora and fauna of these places are adapted to extreme heat and lack of water.
- warm arid. It has rainfall of less than 300 millimeters per year and temperatures exceed 18 °C on an annual average. It is characterized by mild winters and very warm summers. The flora and fauna is very scarce, and only some animals and plants survive these conditions with adaptations to resist the heat and lack of water throughout the year.
Hot climate location
The warm climate is distributed on the planet in the following way:
- equatorial tropical. It is found in areas close to the equator. It covers part of Brazil, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela and part of Central America in America; sectors of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Congo, Liberia, Uganda and Gabon in Africa; and parts of Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines and Fiji in Asia.
- Tropical monsoon. It is found in areas close to the equatorial tropical climate. It covers sectors of Central America, the Gulf of Mexico, India, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and northern Australia.
- Savannah Tropical. It is found in regions of Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia and Central America; in sectors of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Congo, Angola, Zambia, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Sudan, South Sudan, Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Ghana, Ivory Coast and Guinea in Africa; In Asia it is found in some regions of India, Myanmar and Thailand and in Oceania in northern Australia and Papua New Guinea.
- warm semiarid. It is found in sectors of Mexico and the United States, the extreme east of Brazil and sectors of Argentina and Paraguay in America; in some sectors of central and southern Africa, in countries such as Namibia, Botswana, Nigeria, Sudan, Ethiopia and Kenya; in large sectors of India in Asia and in northern Australia, in Oceania.
- warm arid. It is found in areas of northern Mexico and southern United States in America; in much of North Africa, in countries such as Egypt, Libya, Sudan, Tunisia, Chad, Morocco and Niger; in the Arabian Peninsula and other sectors of Asia, in countries such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Oman, Iran, Iraq and Pakistan and in much of central Australia in Oceania.
Flora and fauna of the warm climate
In the tropical equatorial climate, the vegetation is in the form of dense tropical forests with great biodiversity. As for the fauna, there are species of primates that are characterized by having adaptations to move between treeslike long and agile limbs. In addition, there is a wide variety of reptiles and amphibians.
In the tropical monsoon climate, vegetation is also abundant, but it tends to be less dense than in the equatorial climate. Vegetation adapts to wet and dry seasons. Regarding fauna, many animals have adaptations to resist dry seasons or make seasonal migrations in search of water.
In the tropical savanna climate, the vegetation is characterized by extensive grasslands with scattered trees. Flora adapts to lack of water and a prolonged dry season. The fauna characteristic of this type of climate includes the tiger, zebra, elephant and giraffe.
In semi-arid and hot arid climates plants have adaptations to survive water scarcity which allow them to reduce water loss through evaporation and better capture humidity from the environment and the soil. Animals also have adaptations to survive lack of water and heat, such as the ability to store water in their bodies, allowing them to survive long periods without having anything to drink.
document.addEventListener(“DOMContentLoaded”, (e) => {
var sliderContainer, slider;
sliderContainer = document.getElementById(‘block_d07a157007a73f84e4b6998120c341b4’);
if (typeof initSlider !== ‘function’) {
console.log(‘Swiper haven\’t been loaded’);
sliderContainer.className += ‘ fw scroll-snap’;
return;
};
options = {
direction: ‘horizontal’,
speed: 1000,
slidesPerView: ‘auto’,
// slidesPerGroup: 1,
centerInsufficientSlides: true,
// centeredSlides:true,
spaceBetween: 15,
breakpoints: {
720: {
// centeredSlides: false,
// slidesPerGroup: 2,
spaceBetween: 25
},
},
pagination: {
el: ‘.swiper-pagination’,
type: ‘bullets’,
clickable: true
},
}
slider = initSlider(sliderContainer, options);
})
References
- Arriols, E. (2018) What is the tropical climate and its characteristics. https://www.ecologiaverde.com/
- Network meteorology (sf) Arid climate. https://www.meteorologiaenred.com/
- Sans, I (2022) Tropical climate: characteristics, temperature and plants. https://www.clima.com/
- Terrasa, D. (2018) Köppen climate classification. https://geografia.laguia2000.com/
